Ratong Women Centre advocates for women’s empowerment and it focuses on promoting women’s sense of self-worth, their ability to determine their own choices, and their right to influence social change for themselves and others.

The centre, established in 2019 and located in Broadhurst, provides counselling and rehabilitation for women survivors of gender-based violence (GBV), former sex workers, drug addicts and those at risk of living in poverty caused by trauma.

For 39-year-old Otshwanamang Tingeno, life became very difficult after her ‘baby daddy’ left her when she was three months pregnant with her second child. He was the breadwinner and she was unemployed at the time.

In an interview at the centre this week, she explained that life was unbearable at the time and she thought of killing her firstborn and committing suicide, who today is under five years old. Luckily for her, a caring neighbour invited her to seek help at Ratong Women Centre.

“I came to Ratong Women Centre last year in May. At the time life was very difficult.

“When my neighbour Merriam Joel saw what I was going through, she invited me to come here.

“I came here once but stopped because I felt that they were wasting my time.

“Joel did not give up on me and kept encouraging me to return.”

Tingeno returned and found her life transforming.

“I ended up taking her advice and went through counselling sessions every Tuesday and Thursday,” Tingeno recalls.

“I felt better and lighter. My pregnancy was also smooth with the help of Ratong.

“I gave birth and my baby never lacked anything. They took care of me and I never lacked anything.

“I also learnt basket weaving and started working here.

“This NGO showed me that there are still people who love and care about others.”

Tingeno said she enjoys working with the NGO because it is fun and she brings her children with her to her job.

She added that unlike in the past, she was able to smile and converse with other people. She also said a heavy weight had been lifted off her shoulders and through the monthly allowance she gets from the NGO, she can pay rent, buy food and take care of her children. The father of her child is now also supporting his children even though the two are not back together.

For her part, Joel said she heard that Ratong was teaching women handy work and decided to go and learn in 2020. Even though she was not abused or anything, Joel found it fit to be empowered so that she could earn a living through the skills learnt at the centre. However, she too has undergone counselling and learnt a lot from the NGO such as how to live peacefully with other people.

“I was trained in basket weaving and I am the one who now teaches other women basket weaving,” she said.

“I am currently working as Ratong Women Centre’s Project Officer.

“However, even though I felt my life was perfect, I learnt that there are some things we are lacking as humans in our behaviour.

“The way we treat other people is unacceptable even though we may be unaware of it.

“Through this NGO I learnt how to manage and develop myself.”.

Ratong Women Centre founder and director, Tshenolo Ncube, said the facility is open for women aged between 18 to 60 years old.

The centre’s programmes provide a safe platform for women to heal and re-claim their hope while gaining skills that create meaningful income for them.

“We also offer them weekly group counselling sessions every Tuesday and Thursday where women learn from each other’s stories, one-on-one counselling for six months done two days a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and we also train them in basket weaving, banking, sewing, crocheting and other crafts.”

“Our operations began with a support group and counselling for women as well as monthly workshops in the community.

“Six women were trained in 2021 in basket weaving skills and today we have 58 in and around Gaborone doing basket weaving, baking, sewin, and crocheting,” she said.

Ncube further explained that the centre was established to empower their women survivors because the founders noticed that many lack self-value which is worsened by a lack of skills and knowledge. For instance, some women stay in abusive relationships because their male partners provide for them.

Furthermore, to date, as one of its successes, Ratong Women Centre prides itself in having helped two women who later went on to open a daycare and a catering business.

“The pair is doing pretty well,” she said.

“We mentor them and invite them over every month to know how they are doing and the progress of their businesses.

“When we first intervened to help these women, at the time we had to

put them in a protection programme as they had been in abusive relationships for years.

“These women are currently staying in a shelter with their children and getting counselling from the centre.”

Over the years, the centre has

also seen some women go back to their abusive partners. This generally happens when victims become ‘used’ to abuse, have low self-esteem and lack skills that they can use to provide for themselves and their children.

“Sometimes a woman will

open a case against a man and after he gets released from prison, the same woman will welcome him back home and the abuse continues.

“This frustrates us as an NGO trying to get women out of abusive relationships,” Ncube said.