Cultural Concord

 

You might recall a previous post about an upcoming trip to Botswana. We’re happy to say this past week saw us doing just that.

As part of their extensive outreach programme, we teamed up with our partners STEPS (Social Transformation & Empowerment Projects), travelling to Botswana to explore just how much the medium of film would be able to stimulate dialogue around burning issues within Botswana’s communities.

Not unlike many African countries, Botswana has been greatly impacted by the HIV/AIDS epidemic and is also deeply affected by harsh anti-gay laws. We wanted to engage with organizations that were familiar with these issues and as such we teamed up with LEGABIBO, Botswana’s primary LGBT rights organization; UB-LEGABI, an LGBTI society; Grow Responsible Citizens Mentors (GRC Mentors), an initiative working to create dynamic and responsible citizens through mentorship; and the Centre for Youth of Hope (CEYOHO), a non-governmental that targets young people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS in Botswana.

Through our collaborative efforts we really got into the Botswana experience. In our talks with LEGABIBO and UB-LEGABI we covered the criminalization of homosexuality in Botswana. When we sat down with the GRC Mentors, they discussed Passion Killing; a distressing development in Botswana where women are murdered at the hands of their partners. We also facilitated a screening of An Intersection, a STEPS production featuring the inspiring story of CEYOHO activists Kennedy and Basha, an openly positive couple who decided to have their own child. We also filmed a follow-up interview with the couple.

The filming project took place in a few special communities including; Tlokweng Village, Gamononyane Village and Mmopane Village, all situated a few kilometers outside of Botswana’s capital city, Gaborone.

We’d like to extend our immense gratitude to all participants for your invaluable contributions to the project. We look forward to many more collaboration in the future.

Photos

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