09 Dec 2014

In the past, a traditional Setswana set up was such that members of the community were each one’s keeper.

They looked out and cared for one another as if they were members of a family.  

With modernisation, Batswana now appear to be losing their social fabric and the spirit of togetherness.

It is against this background that Ms Beauty Bogwasi, who hails from Bobonong and lives in Maun, founded Aglow Polokong Elderly Care in 2010.

Ms Bogwasi’s desire is to see the needy elderly people honoured and recognised not based on what they have now.

Her compassion for the elderly can be felt in her voice as she says Botswana is what she is because of contributions from the older members of society as some worked at mines, or at lands as farmers.

Ms Bogwasi believes that elderly people are unsung heroes whose labour built Botswana to her current stature. 

It is through Aglow Polokong Elderly Care that she aims to restore dignity to the needy people aged from 59 and above.

The centre is a platform where the elderly people are offered counselling, physiotherapy, a moment for leisure and interaction with one another.

Ms Bogwasi says often times, the elderly needy people meet trying situations, which has rendered them destitute.

Some, she observes, lost their children through diseases such as AIDS, some were wealthy but somehow lost it all, while some who had savings ended up consuming it all when they no longer had source of income.

Furthermore, Ms Bogwasi notes that the HIV and AIDS pandemic, is one of the key factors, which left old people with no one to look after them.

She says the country gave paramount attention to orphans, somehow forgetting the old people in such poor state such as those with no children or grandchildren, lack of amenities such as toilet and water at their homes.

The compassionate woman notes that government cannot manage on its own and  meet the needs of the nation at large to lend a hand to assist elderly people .

“It is important to consider our history, which is the elders. 

They can share history, offer free advice, they are a support system underutilised right now,” she said.

Her project also aims to inculcate the spirit of volunteerism amongst the youth, which is to be achieved by involvement of schools to allow students to volunteer and achieve marks for community service.

“It will be unfortunate to have an educated and informed nation who cannot help someone. Through volunteerism, we will be achieving the pillar of a just and caring nation,” she said. 

Ms Bogwasi says the volunteering will be a chance for skills transfer from the old people to the young generation, since the elderly are knowledgeable on skills such as weaving, building and caring.

She notes with sadness that most elderly people are lonely people who are emotionally wounded but have no one to share their tales with.

In addition, she says Batswana are now focused on themselves, in the process failing to look after other people in the community, an area the Aglow Polokong Care Centre aims to revive.

The project, she says, does home visits to check on the elderly people and provides some with clothes and daily meals.

Some of the challenges the project faces so far is mainly associates with the old people who lived alone. 

Ms Bogwasi says some neighbours took the food and clothes donated to these old people, an act she described as saddening.

She says the other challenge was lack of local sponsors and therefore appealed to people to assist them anyhow, with food, clothes as well as any means to develop the plot granted to Aglow Polokong Elderly Care Centre at Matlapana in Maun. 

So far they prepare daily lunch for some of the elderly people at a friend’s place. Some volunteers quit on the way, which was also a challenge.

She also says old people who have benefited from the project since 2010 were happy about the assistance they have received.

The project has offered Christmas lunch to 200 elderly people annually since 2010 and will host them again this year on December 13 at Tsodilo Junior School in Maun. ENDS