AUDIO BOOK PROJECTS (2021&2022)
WoMen Against Rape published Reflections on Child, Early and Forced Marriages; Anecdotes From Botswana in 2016 and later published Expressing Experiences Book 1 & 2 in 2018. These are fictional stories written by female secondary school students around Botswana. For reasons of inclusivity and convenience, WAR has turned its published books into audio books. The stories were narrated by female Secondary school students with the assistance of Mr Seganabeng who was the readers’ coach and their Guidance and Counselling teachers. Both Audio Book projects had the following Deliverables;
- Production of Audio Books
- Youth Dialogues
- Youth-Stakeholder Dialogues
- Advocacy Statements
EXPRESSING EXPERIENCES AUDIO BOOK PROJECT (2021)
In 2021, WoMen Against Rape (WAR), through the financial support of BONELA, produced Audio Books of EXPRESSING EXPERIENCES Book 1 & 2. The 20 stories in each of these books address 4 themes, these being GBV, HIV, Parent -Child Communication and Teenage Pregnancy. 20 students from Secondary Schools in Maun narrated and recorded Expressing Experiences Book 1 while 20 students from secondary schools in Palapye narrated and recorded Expressing Experiences Book 2. The aim of the Expressing Experiences audio book project was and still is to generate discussion and advocacy for youth access to sexual and reproductive health and protection from GBV.
Youth Dialogues were held in Maun and Palapye respectively, with the aim being to get perspectives of young people aged 15-18 years on issues discussed in the Expressing Experiences books. The project reached 137 youth through dialogues in both sites. The Youth-Stakeholder dialogue was held in Maun on the day of the launch in February 2022. Some of the stakeholders that were present include; the Chief Education Officer-Maun Sub Region, District Aids Coordinator, VDC Chairpersons, PTA Chairpersons, Guidance & Counselling teachers, Social Worker from S&CD, Directorate of Public Prosecutions, Maun Police-Women and Child Protection Unit, Ministers’ Fraternal, Letsholathebe II Memorial Hospital, Lekgotla la Borre, Journalists as well as Out of School Youth. From this engagement, Advocacy Statements were generated.
REFLECTIONS ON CHILD, EARLY AND FORCED MARRIAGES AUDIO BOOK PROJECT (2022)
This project was made possible by the financial support of Canada Fund for Local Initiatives. The 21 stories in the Reflections on Child, Early and Forced Marriages book are now available as audios narrated by 10 female students from secondary schools in Maun with the support of the readers’ coach as well as their Guidance and Counseling teachers. The stories were narrated by female students as a way of empowering The Girl Child in an effort to equip her with a variety of skills she can benefit from in the long run. The audio books are available online on websites and Facebook pages of WAR and donors.
In February 2022,WAR hosted Child, Early and Forced Marriage Youth and Stakeholder dialogues in Gumare, Etsha 6, Shakawe, Kauxwi, Seronga, Beetsha, as well as a Leadership dialogue in Maun, and advocacy statements were developed from the dialogues. The aim of the dialogues was to generate discussion around the issue of child, early and forced marriages and explore possible interventions with leaders and out of school youth.These discussions were centered around the theme DEMANDING ACCOUNTABILITY AND CHANGE THROUGH GIRLS’ STORIES. In March, WAR took the discussion to a national platform through a television interview on The Breakfast Show. 103 Stakeholders were reached i.e community leaders, key government officers, media representatives and chiefs. 246 youth were also reached through dialogues.