Africa-Press – Namibia. The founder of the 4×4 Boys2Man initiative, Sidney Boois, has called for government support to groom and coach the boy child in society.
Established in 2020, the initiative was created to uplift the boy child and give him hope through a pragmatic approach to coaching.
It also addresses toxic masculinity, mental health challenges, and emotional neglect while offering psychological support, character building, and a renewed sense of purpose.
The 4×4 Boys2Man recently held an engagement at Witvlei settlement in the Omaheke region.
In an interview with New Era, Boois said the government must come on board and put more emphasis on boy child the same way it does with the girl child.
He said the boy child is being left behind, and there is slow commitment from the government to rectify this.
“Coaching the boys to become responsible figures can make an impact in society. Focusing on girls alone won’t help as the boy child needs to live or mingle with girls in society. The two need equal treatment,” he said.
Boois called for coaching on equal footing from all spheres to balance or build characters on both sides of gender.
He said if the boy child is not stable, the girl child won’t be stable either, and added that the Ministry of gender equality discriminates as its focus is on one gender.
“Our programme is a national response to the national crisis, like crime that are commonly done by the male gender. We want to bring out the male voice as many houses are headed by women in grooming the future head of the houses,” Boois said.
He proposed that a sin tax be cateterd for in the initiative to accomplish its mandate.
“Even fishing quotas should be given to these sort of initiatives to serve their intended purposes, and farms must be purchased to accommodate the boys in this programme,” he requested.
About 160 boys underwent training in the countrywide programme, and each boy has a unique number for identification and progress monitoring purposes.
Speaking at the event, Omaheke governor Pijoo Nganate shared his personal journey, saying he was also in the same situation as some of the boys at the gathering.
“I sat where you are seated, young and oftentimes lost. I lost my mother at the age of seven and my father when I was nine,” said the governor.
Despite these hardships, Nganate encouraged boys to rise above their challenges.
“When I look at you, I don’t just see future leaders. The future of Omaheke is sitting right here in this room,” he motivated. The 4×4 Boys2Man initiative also established boys clubs in various schools like High Technical School (HTS) in Windhoek, where the boys sell coffee and cakes to buy sanitary pads for girls.
The HTS boys partnered their counterparts from Nossobville in Omaheke region.
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