01 Nov 2021

Maun based organisation, Women Against Rape (WAR) is working on an audio version of short stories that explores issues affecting young girls to cater for those with sight and reading challenges.

The book titled: Anecdotes on Expressing Experiences, Perspectives on Gender Based Violence, HIV/AIDS, Teenage Pregnancy and Parent & Child Communication has been penned and recorded by secondary school girls across the country to inform, teach and inspire.

When briefing representatives from junior and secondary schools in Maun, WAR executive director, Peggy Ramaphane said the project which would be implemented in two months had been made possible by funding from Global Fund through BONELA.

She said their efforts to produce the book started in 2018, after realising that young people were not interested in reading while some were but had sight challenges.  

To execute the project meaningfully, she explained that they roped in school girls as well as guidance and counselling teachers from junior and secondary schools in Maun and Palapye to help record the audio book.

Project officer from WAR, Ms Bobedi Samoxhose said the intention was to record participants as they narrate and share experiences on issues affecting girls and how they could be addressed.

In addition, she said a youth dialogue would be held to explore issues from children’s perspective and come up with advocacy statements that would link them with the right people to address.

Outlining the technical requirements, a teacher from Maun Senior Secondary School, Mr Legodile Seganabeng who helped with the creative aspect said the audio book was necessary, especially in this era, where  learners had lost interest in reading.

He said the audio version would also cater for some members of the society who missed the chance to read the print version as they would now get to listen to the audio from their comfort space.

Mr Seganabeng further noted that audio book required flexible characters who could read clearly and display emotions in the story.

 Schools heads and guidance teachers appreciated the project saying it would cultivate the culture of reading among leaners more so that the book covered interesting topics.

Maun senior head, Ms Lekang Legwaila said the project was a step in the right direction saying children were going through a lot while some were suffering silently as they had never been given a platform to express their feelings and share what they were going through.

She also praised teachers for playing multiple roles noting that at times children were at cross roads and teachers were always there to provide counselling and guidance to them. ENDS