Botswana

Botswana Retired Nurses Society (BORNUS)

In communities that lack skilled health-providers, retired nurses are seen as a godsend. The mission of Botswana Retired Nurses Society is to relieve the burden of care on individuals, families, communities and health care systems.

The Stephen Lewis Foundation funding helps the Botswana Retired Nurses Society assist families that are responsible for the well-being of vulnerable and orphaned children. Programme activities are supported by a team of social workers, nurse-counsellors and community home-based care volunteers. In 2006, BORNUS started a Children’s Stimulation Project with 25 children that, in just three and a half years, grew to 691. With SLF support, Botswana Retired Nurses Society runs a pre-school in Tlokweng, provides after-school care and offers support to caregivers, including a feeding programme for malnourished and sick children (including those with HIV). To add joy and further stimulation, each year the Society offers excursion visits and life-skill retreats for over 100 children that almost invariably are the highlight of their young lives.  At the retreats, youngsters receive training in leadership skills, human rights and adolescent health, including HIV-prevention education.

Women Against Rape (WAR)

Gender-based violence can be both a cause and consequence of HIV. Women Against Rape (WAR) addresses gender inequities and the marginalization of women in Botswana, one of the countries with the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world. The organization fights harmful attitudes, economic and cultural practices and myths, and works to reduce the incidence and impact of gender-based violence in north-western Botswana. With SLF support, Women Against Rape provides integrated quality support to survivors of gender-based violence, including psychosocial counselling, legal aid and emergency shelter for women and children. The organization is especially sensitive to the reality that it can be difficult for survivors to seek justice because they often live or work with perpetrators, and that young survivors often face even greater challenges in seeking support, services and justice.

Through efforts to promote women’s rights, gender equality and expose harmful power dynamics, WAR is working to bring out legal reform, protect the rights of survivors and prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.

• Project descriptions last updated April 2011