Baboki Kayawe
9 November 2009
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Good Hope social workers have pleaded with the public to help find accommodation for a four-year-old physically challenged girl from the neighbouring Dinatshana village.
The girl, together with her six months-old sibling are said to have been neglected by their mother in June. The baby has been accommodated by ChildLine Botswana, while the four-year-old resides at Good Hope Primary Hospital.
Good Hope social welfare officer, Gaone Kgaodi said the case was reported to them in September. They have been trying to find accommodation for the four-year-old, in vain, because institutions are saying there is no space. Kgaodi said Cheshire Foundation has promised to take the child so long as she has a place to stay during holidays. She said they have tried to hold talks with the child's immediate relatives but they are not willing to help.
"We tried talking to the grandmother who stays in Tlokweng, but she is not interested in taking the child. The child's uncles are also saying there is nothing they can do when the grandmother doesn't want to take responsibility," she said.
Kgaodi, together with Kebalepile Horatius, the acting principal social and community development officer in Goodhope is set to meet Dinatshana leaders to chart the way forward.
Horatius lamented the dying spirit of togetherness among Batswana; with individualism being the order of the day. He said people are no longer willing to help disadvantaged members of the community.
"There has to be a lot of education so that people can see the importance of helping children like this one. Gone are the days when my aunt's daughter was a sister to me," she said.
Meanwhile, Good Hope Police Station officers have confirmed that the mother of the two children is serving a six-months jail sentence for child negligence.
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