Topics & Events

Dumelang! I am Yoshiko Lesego, a youth activities officer from Japan International Cooperation Agency. I would like to introduce my activities at NGO Childline Botswana in Gaborone.

I have been dispatched to Childline Botswana, an organization serves for child rights. There are three main departments at Childline Botswana: General Affairs Department, Psychosocial Department (outpatients counselling), and Place of Safety (shelter for children in need). Childline Botswana also runs a twenty-four seven call center, where our social workers respond to the calls from all sites in Botswana.

Botswana has been infamous for having high rates of HIV/AIDS, resulting in high numbers of "AIDS orphans," whom lost their parent/s because of the disease. The recent works of the prevention of HIV, however, have successfully led the country to reduce the number of HIV/AIDS patients, thus AIDS orphans. On the other hand, it is truly disappointing that the more number of cases like child abuse and child trafficking are reported. The Place of Safety at Childline Botswana is a temporary shelter for those children in needs. (24 children are protected as of February 2020.)

Childline Office

Sunrise photo taken from Kgale Hills

The three of my main activities at Childline Botswana include: office support, event coordinate, and child recreation. For office support, I make monthly statistics report for Department of Social Protection, support applying for grants from companies/organizations, and lecture my colleagues on basic computer skills. Also, I sometimes appear to court with my colleagues to have our children leave the institution and be able to go for foster care or adoption to find their own family.

As one of the event coordinator, I also coordinate events together with local organizations, schools and individuals. In Botswana, where about 80% of the population are Christian, it is common to hold charity events such as birthday parties and donations. In the past, some local students voluntarily planned a movie day for our children, and some others visited to wall-paint our office with the children. In addition, Childline Botswana fruitfully held Botswana National Child Rights Convention and Child Related Legislation Training in 2019.

A photo taken from a convention

A movie day, at Limkokwing University

Our children love to play with water!

The child recreation includes the activities such as: tutoring children on how to read/write, and playing with them. Last year, our children enjoyed environmental educational activities of picking up litters around the institution and going on a field trip to waste treatment plant. My aim is to plan activities that broaden the children's horizon.

The children, who come for protection at Childline, have lost their so-called "home." They were expected to enjoy their early childhood at places where they could have felt at home. The unacceptable cases like child abuse, child abandonment, and child trafficking have taken those precious childhoods away from them. The children, who experienced those incidents, often suppress their "childness" and try to act in a way that satisfies the adults around them or be intimidated in front of people. I believe that creating environment where those children could purely be "themselves" is what Childline has to put energy for. Although I would be going back to Japan in less than a year, I am looking forward to creating activities together with the people of Botswana for the smiles of the children.

Field trip to the waste treatment plant

Children learn alphabets through games

Picking up litters around Childline

Cooked Japanese curry with our children