My name is Kebadiretse Melaetsa, a lady of 54 years from Khakhea village. I was introduced to the GROW concept in 2021 by one of Humana People to People field officers, during a Kgotla meeting. Upon hearing about the concept I developed interest in making use of it. I shared the concept with my family, friends and other people in the community.

The few that were interested then agreed that we form a group which comprised of ten people and we named the group Moselewapula. We contributed P30 on a monthly basis as a form of saving, later started a small business in the form of a tuckshop and ultimately opened a savings account with a bank, where we kept our contributions as well as profits from our small business.

We also started a small loan scheme for members to borrow money at an interest, as a way of making more income for ourselves. I am grateful for I can provide for my family, for myself and no longer depend on anyone to feed me. The economical and financial status of my life as well as those I am in the GROW group with have since improved.

We are all financially stable and looking forward to each opening our own individual businesses.

I am a young man aged 36, preferring to remain anonymous. I live with my aunt who is now my guardian, after having lost my parents at a young age and this affected my upbringing as I had no one to cover costs of going to school. Not only was I denied the right to education, I also did not have a birth certificate and national identity card, very important documents which every Motswana must have.

In April this year, I met a young lady who I had seen around the community regularly. I learnt that she does community mobilization on issues of health and social wellbeing. For me, this was an opportunity to share my story, the hardships I had been facing from a very tender age. I told her how I have been denied the right to education and also that I did not have a birth certificate and national identity card. It was somewhat embarrassing for a man my age.

To my surprise, it did not seem much of an issue to her. She immediately took my full details and set an appointment with her where I went to Humana People to People offices, filled forms of referral to the National Registration offices and Immigration offices where I was assisted at no cost and granted a valid birth certificate and national identity card. I was amongst the first to be in possession of a valid birth certificate and national identity card in our family.

This was an eye opener to the others, which through me managed to also be assisted by Humana People to People to be in possession of these documents. I have successfully completed a course on computer studies, obtaining a certificate in Basic Computer Studies, which I could not have enrolled in without an identity card. I am grateful to Humana People to People.

Our Community Development approach is based on the formation of Village Action Groups (VAGs), which bring people together to address pressing issues affecting families and children.

Ms. Selina Nyambe is one of Humana Child Aid Phikwe’s beneficiaries. "I started coming here after meeting one of the project’s representatives in our township, who told me about Humana and what they do as a project. The next day, I went to the center and became interested in the vegetable production course, which I began right away.

Following completion, and based on my desire to continue extending Humana’s mission in our community, I was given a small plot of land to begin vegetable production, as Child Aid Phikwe has a good garden in their center. Initially, I planned to grow and sell excess vegetables to help my family’s finances. But, because Humana provided me with everything I needed and I had been taught the importance of proper nutrition, I changed my mind.

I began to accompany the project workers when they visited their clients in the community, and I gave them vegetables from my garden to supplement their diet. COVID19 had a negative impact on people in our community just as much as it had on me. “Because I am not working, I was also impacted by the COVID19 outbreak. So I couldn’t sell because most people in our community don’t work and rely on day-to-day piece jobs,” said Nyambe.

I am grateful to Child Aid Phikwe for teaching me how to better manage my health through diet. I am now able to better manage my high blood pressure by eating nutritious foods. I’ve also included the cultivation of medicinal herbs like parsley and coriander."

My name is Kebadiretse Melaetsa, a lady of 54 years from Khakhea village. I was introduced to the GROW concept in 2021 by one of Humana People to People field officers, during a Kgotla meeting. Upon hearing about the concept I developed interest in making use of it. I shared the concept with my family, friends and other people in the community.

The few that were interested then agreed that we form a group which comprised of ten people and we named the group Moselewapula. We contributed P30 on a monthly basis as a form of saving, later started a small business in the form of a tuckshop and ultimately opened a savings account with a bank, where we kept our contributions as well as profits from our small business.

We also started a small loan scheme for members to borrow money at an interest, as a way of making more income for ourselves. I am grateful for I can provide for my family, for myself and no longer depend on anyone to feed me. The economical and financial status of my life as well as those I am in the GROW group with have since improved.

We are all financially stable and looking forward to each opening our own individual businesses.

I am a young man aged 36, preferring to remain anonymous. I live with my aunt who is now my guardian, after having lost my parents at a young age and this affected my upbringing as I had no one to cover costs of going to school. Not only was I denied the right to education, I also did not have a birth certificate and national identity card, very important documents which every Motswana must have.

In April this year, I met a young lady who I had seen around the community regularly. I learnt that she does community mobilization on issues of health and social wellbeing. For me, this was an opportunity to share my story, the hardships I had been facing from a very tender age. I told her how I have been denied the right to education and also that I did not have a birth certificate and national identity card. It was somewhat embarrassing for a man my age.

To my surprise, it did not seem much of an issue to her. She immediately took my full details and set an appointment with her where I went to Humana People to People offices, filled forms of referral to the National Registration offices and Immigration offices where I was assisted at no cost and granted a valid birth certificate and national identity card. I was amongst the first to be in possession of a valid birth certificate and national identity card in our family.

This was an eye opener to the others, which through me managed to also be assisted by Humana People to People to be in possession of these documents. I have successfully completed a course on computer studies, obtaining a certificate in Basic Computer Studies, which I could not have enrolled in without an identity card. I am grateful to Humana People to People.

Our Community Development approach is based on the formation of Village Action Groups (VAGs), which bring people together to address pressing issues affecting families and children.

Ms. Selina Nyambe is one of Humana Child Aid Phikwe’s beneficiaries. "I started coming here after meeting one of the project’s representatives in our township, who told me about Humana and what they do as a project. The next day, I went to the center and became interested in the vegetable production course, which I began right away.

Following completion, and based on my desire to continue extending Humana’s mission in our community, I was given a small plot of land to begin vegetable production, as Child Aid Phikwe has a good garden in their center. Initially, I planned to grow and sell excess vegetables to help my family’s finances. But, because Humana provided me with everything I needed and I had been taught the importance of proper nutrition, I changed my mind.

I began to accompany the project workers when they visited their clients in the community, and I gave them vegetables from my garden to supplement their diet. COVID19 had a negative impact on people in our community just as much as it had on me. “Because I am not working, I was also impacted by the COVID19 outbreak. So I couldn’t sell because most people in our community don’t work and rely on day-to-day piece jobs,” said Nyambe.

I am grateful to Child Aid Phikwe for teaching me how to better manage my health through diet. I am now able to better manage my high blood pressure by eating nutritious foods. I’ve also included the cultivation of medicinal herbs like parsley and coriander."


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