Honorable Barbara Mogae, First Lady and Patron of the Botswana Red Cross Society; Dikgosi, Dr. Nomsa Mbere, President of the Botswana Red Cross Society; Ms. Keabonye Ntsabane, Acting Secretary General of the Botswana Red Cross Society, distinguished guests and community members of Sefhare.
Today is a very special occasion for the village of Sefhare and I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to share in the opening of the Red Cross Stimulation Center.
I always enjoy having a chance to travel within Botswana and to see the lovely countryside and meet people throughout the country. As we were driving here this morning, I was particularly struck by the beauty of this area with the Tswapong Hills. The village of Sefhare is fortunate to be located in such a lovely area. So today is a particular treat for me. Thank you for allowing me to leave my office and join you here today.
It is so nice to see the wonderful new building here that provides a vital service to disabled children from Sefhare and throughout the villages in this area. I can see how much effort has gone into making this project a success and I know that the completion of this building is only one part of this success.
This program is successful due to the people from Sefhare gathered here today. Due to your support and through the dedication of the staff, the Sefhare Stimulation Center provides much needed support for the children who come here. Through the day care classes and the physical stimulation, the staff is providing a critical service to children who would otherwise have no other way of stimulating their development. I understand the staff also visits the children’s families and extends guidance and support to them as their children grow.
It gives me a sense of pride to know that the U.S. Embassy and the U.S. Government was also able to join in supporting this stimulation center through funds from the Special Self Help Program. Your program here represents the best of what the Special Self Help Program seeks to support in Botswana.
Each year, the Special Self Help Fund provides small grant assistance to support community development projects throughout Botswana. Through each grant, we seek to work in partnership with a community to promote self-reliance and improve the social and economic welfare of the community. The Red Cross Stimulation Center is a wonderful example of this kind of partnership working to provide a much needed service for your community.
As is the custom in Botswana, I would like to extend a vote of thanks to those involved in making the Red Cross Stimulation Center a success here in Sefhare. I would like to extend thanks to Sister Frances Boston, who has given so much of her time and energy to this project from the very beginning. I would like to thank the staff of the center who through their dedication, give so much to the disabled children they work to assist. I would like to thank the Kgosi of Sefhare and the community of Sefhare for providing support to the project over the years. And, I would like to thank the Botswana Red Cross Society for their support of the stimulation center and their commitment to continue providing much needed support to the center in the future.
Finally, it is a great pleasure for me to take part in the opening festivities today. Sefhare is a wonderful example to other communities around Botswana of what can be accomplished when a village pulls together to support a project to benefit their community.
As we say in Setswana “KE A LEBOGA” – again, thank you for your generous welcome and hospitality.
We appreciate and value the efforts of people like you.
