Social Development — Florence Kenalemang

Teacher and founder of You Care Organisation

Florence Kenalemang is a preschool teacher with a huge amount of self-drive, and a passion for unlocking opportunities through voluntary work.

Early childhood development is a crucial part of a young child’s development, and quality training and education will ensure a child is confident and ready to attend primary school. Seeing the huge need around her for children to receive this investment in their future, she is never discouraged but instead becomes involved to see what she can offer through her knowledge.

In 2008, Kenalemeng was a volunteer at Shakawe Clinic, assisting in imparting HIV education to the community. She was also a volunteer in the Botswana government’s Youth Empowerment Programme, where she provided counselling and motivated the youth of Shakawe to work hard towards a better future.

Kenalemang then spent time running the Bokamoso Day Care Centre, which offered free early childhood education for less privileged children. She later relocated to Sefhare village, where she did voluntary work at Tonto Day Care Centre, again engaging with the education of preschool children.

In February 2014, Kenalemang registered You Care, a not-for-profit organisation that offers free education to preschool children for families that cannot afford to pay for it.

She has collaborated with Mmutle Primary School in a project entitled The Right to Learn, which offers free education to 40 children before they enrol in Standard One (grade three). The model for this project was later rolled out to Machaneng village as well.

Kenalemang also looks further afield to the welfare of her community. She organised a gender-based violence workshop at Machaneng, which was attended by police officers, government workers and village leaders. She also organised a camping trip for students from Sefhare Junior Secondary School in 2014.

Kenalemang was nominated for a PEPFAR Hero Award by the United States Embassy in Botswana for her tireless work, and she was later recognised as a PEPFAR Hero by Edward Miller, Botswana’s US Ambassador in 2015. In 2016, she was invited by the US department of state to visit the US as part of their civic leadership programme.

Kenalemang shows no signs of slowing down in her work. “I firmly believe that education is a powerful weapon that can be used to empower the less privileged,” she says.

Contact: [email protected]