Jul 31, 2022 | Beneficiaries, Events, Program Updates
Fun was the theme of the day as the Mochudi DREAMS teams and girls painted the town in shades of colour with the DREAMS Colour Chase! The epic session featured guest speakers including Mrs Botswana finalist Mrs Lesang Pilane, who conversed with the girls about the dangers of ICT to young women. A team from Mr Price were also on the line-up as they discussed self-care, fashion and knowing your correct bra size as well as a testing station courtesy of BUMMHI.
The memorable day was definitely one for the books as the participants filled the skies with vibrant colours!
Jul 8, 2021 | News, Program Updates
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!
Jun 24, 2021 | Events, Program Updates
After an intense six months of daily sessions and six weeks in a job shadowing exercise, 47 participants from our Finding The Leader Within Leadership program graduated! The program, funded by The FACET Foundation, targets 18- to 25-year-old youth who are unemployed and or out of school living in Mochudi. The objective is to get them ready for the workplace, start their own small business or return to school. This is achieved through the following modules; Career Skills, Business & Financial Literacy, Computer Skills, Leadership Skills and Healthy Lifestyles.
CEO of VYB Digital, Mr. Karabo Letsholo delivered the commencement speech, and led the graduates in a spirited affirmation:
‘I know I can, be what I want to be. If I work hard in it, I will be where I want to be.’
He further went on to recount his personal story of struggle and triumph, inspiring the attendees by demonstrating that with the right attitude we can all achieve what we want in life.
One of the participants, Waone offered her own testimony of how the skills she learned in the program have helped her to thrive in her own life. Waone shared that when she started the program, she was reserved and lacked self-confidence. However, she quickly developed her interpersonal and CV writing skills. These landed her a job as a waitress in one of the prestigious restaurants in Gaborone.
“This was possible due to the skills I was equipped with the such as confidence, writing CVs and cover letters and preparation for interviews,” she said.
Waone is thriving in her job! She is able to fully articulate herself, which is helping her build connections and expand her professional networks that could lead to new, progressive opportunities in the future.
In addition to their program completion certificates, graduates also received certificates from the ABSA Ready To Work Program. This certifies successful completion of the four modules program designed to equip young people with the necessary skills to find employment or create self-employment. Other special awards include recognizing individuals who demonstrated excellence in different areas. Including; Most Innovative Participant, Best Role Model, Most Improved, and more. Of the 47 graduating participants, 36 gained valuable work experience through the job shadowing exercise, five are now fully employed and six are pursuing higher education. Our second cohort for the year begins in July 2021
May 7, 2021 | Events, Program Updates
A healthy and positive relationship between a parent and a child helps parents to protect their adolescents against a variety of negative health and social outcomes. This is the primary focus of the Pinagare program for teens and parents. Its main purpose is to help cultivate open, caring and trusting relationships between caregivers and their teens. Over the course of 14 weeks, parents and teens attend sessions covering the following topics: Setting Goals, Spending Quality Time, Praising Each Other, Talking About Emotions, Anger Management, Problem Solving, Budgeting & Saving, Conflict Resolution, Establishing Rules & Routine and more.
“Pinagare changed my life. I never listened to my children before I joined this program, I only wanted them to listen to me. I have now learnt to consult and understand my children’s feelings before I make any decisions. Budgeting, money skills and saving are some of the other things I have learnt from this program.” – Pinagare graduate (mother of two)
This family is one of 184 families who graduated from the 14 week-long program across Botswana from March to April 2021. With funding and support from USAID, Debswana Diamond Company and the European Union, the Pianagare program runs in six different regions throughout Botswana. Our graduates included participants from the following districts:
- Kgatleng District – 42 families
- Gaborone/South East – 43 families
- Goodhope – 24 families
- Tutume – 14 families
- Gantsi – 16 families
- Letlhakane – 45 families
We look forward to seeing the results from the next cohort of families who embark on this journey to improve their relationships.
Mar 29, 2021 | News, Program Updates
For the last three years, SSI has served as a sub-partner for PCI on a ground-breaking USAID (United States Agency for International Development) initiative to combat the spread of HIV among young people. During this time, SSI implemented community-based programs to meet the needs of Orphaned and Vulnerable Care (OVC) and Adolescent Girls & Young Women (AGYW) in various districts throughout Botswana.
We are proud to share that USAID has since selected SSI to begin receiving direct funding for this program as a result of our ability to not only fulfil but exceed the expectations of our previous role in order to meet the needs of our community. In February 2020 we started implementing the “Breaking Barriers to an HIV Free Generation” program in the Kgatleng and Goodhope Districts. This is in order to continue our vital work to prevent new HIV infections and reduce vulnerability among OVC and AGYW.
About the Project
The project aims to prevent new HIV infections and reduce vulnerability among orphaned vulnerable children and adolescent girls and young women through Healthy, Safe, Schooled and Stable domains. Our community service providers assess each family’s needs and provide the following interventions:
- Health services
- Life skills and sexual reproductive health education
- Youth financial literacy with the Aflateen curriculum
- Caregiver financial literacy through the WE-GROW program
- Parent-child communication interventions to improve positive parenting and reduce child abuse, exploitation or neglect through the Pinagare program
In a short but auspicious two-hour ceremony with the United States Ambassador and other government officials present, we were presented with a cheque. Which will fund the program for the next coming three years, alongside four other local organisations.
We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to Project Concern International (PCI Botswana) for assisting us in our transition process to receive direct funding, and to the government of United States for funding our program. We look forward to continuing to breaking barriers to an HIV free Botswana!
Watch a short message from our Executive Director about the project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmSagjjd-58
Dec 23, 2020 | News, Program Updates
From our humble beginning serving just 30 youth in Mochudi, to reaching over 28,000 youth and children with our programs throughout Botswana, Stepping Stones International has come a long way! As we kick off our 15th year of impact, we reflect back on all that was made possible with help from our stakeholders, donors and community supporters to unlock youth potential – We could not have done it without you. Over these years, we worked tirelessly for our community, continuing to grow and evolve in response to their needs, which shaped our four core services to:
And Wow! We achieved some amazing results! 800 youth have graduated from Find the Leader Within, a game changing program generously supported by the FACET Foundation. Youth develop entrepreneurial, career and leadership skills, that boost their confidence and help them discover their career path, leading many graduates to even launch their own businesses. Through our Literacy Research partnership with the University of Utah Reading Clinic, we discovered that many students in Botswana are reading far below their expected reading level, many as low as 3 to 4 levels below. Knowing that literacy has significant implications on academic performance and overall life outcomes, we trained 340 teachers in our evidence-based Breakthrough to English Literacy program. It has since been implemented in 32 schools (and counting) across the country!
At our centre in Mochudi we serve 120 participants per year through our after-school program, where youth receive academic assistance through tutoring, English literacy interventions, and test preparation. Participants also engage in extra-curricular activities and clubs and participate in SSI’s small business incubator program that has launched 5 successful income generating projects! Through generous support from USAID, we have served over 8,000 clients in our Orphaned & Vulnerable Care program, which focuses on increasing HIV prevention as well as treatment adherence for HIV+ participants. We work to ensure all participants have the opportunity to lead healthy and fulfilling lives no matter their status.
Will you celebrate with us?
It’s simple, SPREAD the word! Help us reach more youth in more places by sharing SSI’s stories of impact. You can do this by sharing our social media posts, writing us a review on Great Non-profits or joining our 15 Years of SSI Facebook group, where you can learn about and participate in our year-long celebration.
Looking forward…
Imagine what we could accomplish over the next 15 years!
There are many ways to help us continue our good work, you can:
- Check out how to setup your own SSI fundraiser
- Donate $15 monthly through JustGiving
- Tell your friends & family about SSI and the incredible youth who inspire us everyday
Thank you all for supporting us on this beautiful journey, we are truly grateful. We look forward to another 15 years unlocking even more youth potential in Botswana and beyond!
