Oops! I just realized that its almost the end of February, and we haven't posted all month. One of the more notable events this month coincided with Valentine's Day, and involved the One Billion Rising Campaign- a worldwide social media campaign against Gender-based violence. Despite the unusually high rate of GBV in Botswana, and its close ties to HIV, this is actually the first year Botswana has been involved, with a big event held in Kasane #ChobeRises.
Here in Ramotswa, we decided to join in. You can find the photos of over 40 participants at the Ramotswa Public Library Facebook page, at Chobe Rises, or at https://choberises.wordpress.com. You can learn more about the worldwide campaign at onebillionrising.org
The idea behind the campaign addresses the fact that 1 in 3 women worldwide (or about one billion people) experience gender-based violence (about twice that rate in Botswana). One first step is to get people to think about why they might not support such a thing, and what they can do to rise up against it. So, youth in Ramotswa finished this sentence: "I am rising because…" and connected with others with the same message around the world. We were disheartened by the number of people who were not supportive of this message: people who said "but, it is the fault of women- they need to be disciplined" or "but, women are the ones who start it- we men are keeping them in line".We were encouraged, however, by the messages of those who spoke out, including our chief of police and our Kgosikgolo Mosadi Seboko.
Seboko is the first female Kgosi in Botswana. A kgosikgolo is a paramount chief, presiding, not just over a village, but the entire tribe (in this case, the Bamalete people). Although she is very busy in the tribal judicial system, presiding over our local kgotla, and as a member of the government legislative branch in the House of Chiefs, she advocates well for her people, and even occasionally makes time for her two local Peace Corps (that's us!) While she's not a fan of the internet, and will only see these photos in person, you can find her on Wikipedia. We were honored by her involvement.
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| I am rising because..."All people need to be loved and respected. Let us consider women as mothers. Let us care for all. Women are the [blankets tied around the torso to carry a baby on the back] for the country (a Setswana proverb meaning that women are those who carry, protect, sacrifice, and care for us)." *Please feel free to correct my translation |
