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Our English Access Programme participants under the USAID award went on a field trip to Botswana Meteorological Services where they learned about weather forecasts, weather elements as well as the various instruments used to measure the weather. Our future forecasters enjoyed the day trip and left feeling inspired and motivated to work on their grades with high career prospects in the Meteorology field!
Three cheers for our future forecasters!
The SSI D.R.E.A.M.S. team in collaboration with D.R.E.A.M.S. implementing partners across the nation launched the D.R.E.A.M.S. Roadshow under the USAID award. The nationwide campaign was headlined by award winning musician, Slizer.
The D.R.E.A.M.S. Roadshow aims to further project the D.R.E.A.M.S. mandate of combatting HIV and new infections among Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW) between the ages of 9-24 years through equipping participants with Comprehensive Sexuality Education, enterpreneural skills, gender based violence and HIV.
The roadshow started in the village of Kanye and has been taking place in almost every major and minor villages of Botswana leaving no stone unturned. Through this event, participants have access to various services such as HIV testing, counselling referrals, learning entrepreneurial skills as well as networking with various D.R.E.A.M.S. girls, stakeholders and ambassadors.
As the year winds down to a close, we are wrapping up the year on a fantastic note with the graduation of more families in Kgatleng District through our Pinagare program!
Family and community are an integral and influential cornerstone in a child’s life. One of the main functions of a family is to create a nurturing environment where children can grow and develop their potential. The Pinagare parenting program funded by USAID, aims to work with both young people and their families to improve positive parenting and cultivate open, caring and trusting relationships between young people and their caregivers. This past week we had the pleasure of graduating more families in Mochudi.
A hearty congratulations to all our graduates!
Dithunya tsa Rona – a locally-produced film has won big on the global stage scooping three prestigious awards internationally. The film was recently awarded the coveted “Best International Feature Film” at the Annual Baltimore International Black Film Festival in America this past week. In addition, Tshepie Olds, a young Motswana actress on the rise won the “Best Supporting Actress” award from the Garden Route International Film Festival in South Africa. Since the film’s premiered, Dithunya tsa Rona has been making international waves with the film’s producer, Jenny Ledikwe winning the “Best Emerging Filmmaker” at The African Film Festival in America soon after its first premiere.
The film’s Writer, Producer and Co Director, Dr. Jenny Ledikwe said, “Our work combines the science of behavior change with the art of film making to produce captivating content with meaningful narratives to empower people and inspire change. “I feel grateful to have the opportunity to apply my knowledge, skills, and experience to make Botswana a safer place for our children with an amazing cast, crew and partners.”
Dithunya tsa Rona is a 1-hour docudrama which is focused on improving parenting in Botswana and creating safe homes for children, free from abuse, free from fear. The film tackles many challenging issues, including parenting and child sexual abuse. Written and produced by Dr. Jenny Ledikwe and Isaac Marumo, the groundbreaking docudrama is the brainchild of the Stepping Stones International team and is based on collaborative research with the Ministry of Local Government and Department of Social Protection among others. The film was made possible with funding from the European Union, Fonds Humanitaire de Stéphanie Lacroix and FACET Foundation.
“We are really excited about the international recognition the award is receiving and look forward to its official release. The film will be disseminated nationally through collaboration with the government and civil society and will be used as a discussion platform to create a safe environment for our children.” – Lisa Jamu SSI Executive Director
The month of October officially marks 15 years of serving children and youth in Botswana for Stepping Stones International! In celebration of our birthday month, we kicked off the very first day of October with the #StepItUpWithSSI Walk Challenge! Participants of the walk challenge (now known as ‘Steppers’) documented the first day of their 150km in 30 days walk challenge to empower youth and children in Botswana!
Steppers across the world united as one through this walk initiative from countries including Tanzania, Austria, Ecuador, Italy, Japan, United States of America, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Botswana and more! The #StepItUpWithSSI Walk Challenge has gone on to grow to become a powerful movement, with Steppers as young as 10 years old playing their part in youth empowerment, and we couldn’t be prouder of our Steppers community. Congratulations to everyone for taking part of thisand being a part of an awesome movement!
Step it up with SSI and make a difference!
SSI is once again collaborating with U.S non-profit organisation, CEOs of Tomorrow in an effort to provide teens with entrepreneurship skills. CEOs of Tomorrow’s These Teens Mean Busine$$ Academy is an entrepreneurship business seminar, in which teens learn business principles including management, business finance, marketing and other foundational business concepts transferable to other subjects.
The course concludes with intercultural teen-groups working together to design and pitch presentations that highlight a global issue of importance to them and the entrepreneurial steps that could be taken to address it.
From July 6th to July 29th, 18 teens; nine from Stepping Stones International and nine from the U.S will be taking part in this virtual program. Activities will include interaction with local and international entrepreneurs, business pitch presentations and more!
“Our partnership with SSI gives teen entrepreneurs an opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills to a social entrepreneurial project in another country. Teens are immersed in a rich cultural experience that helps them become active global citizens, and they connect with teens from another country. Bringing diverse global perspectives together to achieve a common goal leads to innovative accomplishments and greater global awareness.” – CEO and founder of CEOs of Tomorrow, Roxie Hertz.
Participants taking part in the program are aged 13 to 18 years old and have great expectations from the program.
“I want to know how to start a business, interact with people from a different culture and make new connections (friends).” – Duncan , (16)
We are grateful to CEOs of Tomorrow for partnering with us again on this amazing initiative and can’t wait to see the results!