Botho

The kids in our book club are precious and an absolute joy. They are also loud, obnoxious, and impatient- OUT OF CONTROL! Maybe they are testing my limits, maybe I need to work on my crowd-control Setswana, maybe they just love being in a cool room with a wheelchair ramp to slide up and down. Last week, we decided that it was time to set some ground rules in a fun and creative way. Starting with the bible verse “Love is patient, love is kind…” we decorated posters and talked about our two basic rules: patience (waiting for our turn to read or to post books accomplished on the wall), and kindness (by showing respect and consideration toward each other, me, and the books). I learned something new.

In Setswana, “lorato” means, “love”, “pelotelele” means “patience”, but I had never heard the word for kindness. The librarian informed me that yes, this means kindness, but that only children who had memorized this verse, who were from a Christian background would know this word. But kindness, I said, is such an important thing. Isn’t there a word that everyone would understand? That’s when I learned about “botho.” Incidentally, you can learn a lot of Setswana vocabulary from people’s names because the Batswana like to name people according to a significant meaning or event in the family. My name, “Lesego,” means “blessings.” I often hear people saying my name when they are not talking about me: “Ka lesego….” (“Fortunately…”.) Owen’s name, “Kabelo”, means “the one who brings the lesego/gifts.”

So, I had heard the name “Botho” before. It is a very multi-dimensional term that means both kindness and respect. It’s also one of the 5 tenets of Botswana’s social and political agenda, and the name of one of its Universities. The UB graduate school also uses the term for social justice and to describe “a person who has a well-rounded character, who is well-mannered, courteous and disciplined, and realises his or her full potential both as an individual and as a part of the community to which he or she belongs. Botho is an example of a social contract of mutual respect, responsibility and accountability that members of society have toward each other and defines a process for earning respect by first giving it, and to gain empowerment by empowering others…It encourages people to applaud rather than resent those who succeed.” A collective culture’s perspective adds a group dimension to the interpersonal way that we individualists tend to think of something as basic as kindness.

“Love is patient and kind. It does not envy, it does not boast. It is not self-seeking. It keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres.” …yep, its totally botho.

The library ladies.

Practicing "botho": Isaiah at last week's community work day.