Africa-Press – Botswana. About 80 young people gathered for a week long youth development Camp Transform programme facilitated by Lobatse based Urban Rhythm Youth Empowerment Trust in conjunction with a team of 14 Faithbridge missionaries from United States of America,Texas.
Speaking in an interview on the sidelines of the camp at a farm recently, co-founder of Urban Rhythm Ms Lindsay Shores said the goal was to empower youth to discover their full potential. The organisation, founded in 2014 sought to empower young people to discover their identities and purpose in life more with a focus on support for orphans and vulnerable children who faced challenging social circumstances, gender based violence, HIV/AIDS through counseling, mentorship and life skills training designed to instill good social morals and confidence to enable them navigate life.
Additionally, Ms Shores said they connected with single parent households to teach their children to have confidence, instill morals and values, adding that this year they have partnered with Faithbridge who sent church leaders across the globe to engage and inspire the youth geared at positively transforming lives.
“We request for the most vulnerable children, orphaned and needy children and those who need counseling in Lobatse schools. They camp with us here every year during the President holidays, they go through sessions and get healing for trauma. We offer counseling services, play games with them and thereafter they can be connected to the Urban Rhythm youth centre in town to continuously shape them,” she said.
However, she said they were challenged by shortage of resources to effectively carry out their mission to reach out to more youth as such they needed government and more stakeholders to come on board to assist.
For his part, leader for Urban Rhythm in Lobatse Mr Emmanuel Motsemme, highlighted the Christian based organisation’s impact on the community,“We reach about 500 young people weekly through various programmes at the Youth Centre.
“We have Programmes such as Chosen Champions which addressed issues faced by youth and implement rehabilitation efforts,” he said.
The Trust, he noted also operated the House of Hope, a shelter that provided accommodation, clothing and food for young women to be able to navigate difficult social environments, helping them rebuild their lives. A US-based beneficiary of the project, 20-year-old Kaone Mallege expressed pride in being associated with Urban Rhythm Youth Empowerment Trust. He was adopted by the founders as an orphan at 13 years after his mother, who worked for the organisation passed away.
“When my mother died, I was entering adolescence. I felt confused, lost, and abandoned, a very traumatic experience. Coming from a poor family background, I was born to a single mother and we lived at Peleng in a single-room dwelling and we faced financial difficulty,” he said.
At the time, he said he was serving in the church children’s ministry. Ms Shores promised my mother she would take care of me, and about a week later, they took me in and adopted me as their son.
“They have been supporting me ever since. They sent me to school in the United States, where I am currently attending college and have just completed my first year,” Mallege shared.
Another beneficiary from Urban Rhythm Youth Empowerment Trust’s House of Hope program, 18-year-old Loretta Mothibedi, explained that she moved there because her family environment was not conducive to studying. Urban Rhythm provided her with a safe space to thrive academically. She also appreciated the opportunity to learn skills such as sewing, baking, cooking, and gardening.
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