Walk of Hope spreads the gospel of hope in communities

WALK OF HOPE

SPREADS THE GOSPEL OF HOPE IN COMMUNITIES

50 year old Founding Director of Walk of Hope, Theriso Motsumi-Motsemeng, relishes every moment to empower the communities by addressing any challenges being experienced through practical means.

Since its inception, Motsemeng says that the organisation has done a lot for families and individuals in need, saying: “We have taken on such initiatives as donating food hampers and toiletries to the less privileged, we offer psychological and the psychosocial support to members of the communities, and we also run sanitary and shoe drive campaigns to donate to schools with students who need them the most.”

These are but a few examples of practical assistance to communities, with Walk of Hope also getting involved in issues of health as the government sometimes needs the support of its citizenry in order to be effective. The organization also runs HIV/AIDS and Diabetes campaigns, where they teach the locals about the diseases, running public testing sessions with the help of the Ministry of

Health and Wellness.

Theriso credits her daughter, Selwana Motsemeng for inspiring her to make a difference to people through giving back in action back in 2008, having come to learn that Selwana’s friend was always being molested. After eventually reporting the case, Selwana’s friend found the legal help she needed and won, giving her a fresh start after such an arduous ordeal. Since then, Motsemeng realized the importance of giving, and having to be the voice for the voiceless in every aspect.

FORGING CSR PARTNERSHIPS Partnerships are very vital for Walk of Hope and Motsemeng acknowledge one of them for success.

“As the CSR Ambassador of Kamoso Africa, I assess the requests that come from other organizations and see how best we can assist them. As the organization can be overwhelmed with a lot of requests for food and toiletries, Kamoso Africa usually donates through Walk of Hope as we already have a base, where we know where the need is the most and we do our best to help through Kamoso Africa. Also, as the CSR Ambassador I portray the images of the X-Men of the organization. I do not walk over anyone’s rights, I treat others with love and respect and lead to bring a difference,” said the confident Walk of Hope

Theriso Motsumi-Motsemeng,

Director.

She buttressed that Kamoso Africa realised the magnificent work that Walk of Hope are doing to help the communities, hence playing a major role in helping them build the working center for Walk of Hope through their sister company Builders Mart.

“This is where we help people firsthand, and we also have an initiative of feeding the hungry every Friday for free as for the rest of the week we sell food to raise money for the centre to have the doors open each day. The catering equipment was also donated by Kamoso Africa through Mont Catering. We also have an internet cafe and all the equipment that we are using was powered by Kamoso Africa. Because Molepolole where our offices are situated is a village that has water shortages, New Era College has supported us with Jorje tanks which we use for water storage,” she added.

She pointed out that their CSR projects at Walk of Hope bring about a lot of impact in the lives of community members, with their pursuit of sustainability in approach based on the needs of the people. Walk of Hope together with their sponsors assess how they can collectively fill in that gap, to help and bring about change in the lives of those in need.

“The communities we help are very appreciative, together with the leaders. I am humbled to have been further recognised with a few awards and been appointed as the Ambassador of Women in Molepolole. Besides all the appreciation we get, at Walk of Hope we do what we do to serve. I believe the appreciation from the communities come as a bonus, and we love what we do, and we will not stop serving and helping people regain their dignity,” she said oozing with confidence.

On the other hand, Motsemeng said the COVID-19 pandemic has brought major setback in all the strategic plans that the organisation had lined up with regards to building a better Botswana.

“As a result, we were not able to reach as many people as we have desired due to the travel restrictions, and nothing hurts more than receiving calls and texts of people going hungry and knowing that we cannot help in any way. However, during the pandemic, we were still helping those close to where we are based, being the Gaborone, Molepolole and surrounding areas,” she said.

AREAS OF FOCUS Walk of Hope of CSR is more focused on the education and health sector. The food donation campaigns come as a bonus as part of what they do to give back to the communities as they have realised as the organisation grew, that families were going hungry.

They also run shoe drives and sanitary pads campaigns where Theriso personally ask for shoes and sanitary pads from friends and family. Kamoso Africa has been the greatest back bone when it comes to bringing sanitary pads together, which are then donated to schools throughout the whole of Botswana. Walk of Hope has also left their footprint in a primary school like Ranoi Primary School where they assisted with a printing machine.

HIV/AIDS and Diabetes are one of leading diseases that take the lives of many Batswana, and so that is why Walk of Hope educates members of the public about the diseases. To make such campaigns successful they usually hold sponsored walks and free testing sessions for members of the public. This has been done in Gaborone and Molepolole. During the time when Walk of Hope was fundraising to donate the printing machine for Ranoi Primary School, they also screened the students for Diabetes with the help of health care professionals.

“Our projects are countrywide, but of course in our journey we experience challenges that stop us from spreading our wings. However, where there is a call for help, we jump off our seats and make a way to help of possible. For example, we have gone as far as Tshokatshaa because there was a call for help from students there were in need to school shoes. And of course, where we donate school shoes, sanitary pads are always a bonus for the beneficiaries. We are based in Molepolole where our Walk-in centre is, but in most cases, we are working around Gaborone and surrounding areas,” stressed Theriso.

“Most parents in Botswana cannot afford to get their children a pair of shoes. Even if they to get one pair it is often difficult to replace it when it is worn out. Our campaigns relieve parents off the burden, and they can focus on other family needs. The look on children’s faces when they get a pair of shoes is priceless. At times it reminds me of the olden days when our uncles came from the mines! It was a beautiful feeling fitting on new shoes and pink dresses. It dignifies the children, boosts their self-esteem, and reduces the chances of stigmatization and bullying at school. Kids can suffer excruciating stigma, bullying, and ridicule all for lack of decent shoes. People often neglect their old, aged parents. It makes them lonely and unloved. Giving donations to them fulfills them and makes them feel appreciated,” she concluded.