Tswana Research Articles

Place of Death among Botswana'S Oldest Old

Botswana, a country in sub-Saharan Africa, has been in the midst of an HIV/AIDs pandemic that has halted its previously lengthening life expectancy trend. However, one group to escape immediate effects on falling life span is the oldest old age group (> 80 years). Their roles in the community due to the pandemic, however, have changed. Place of death is an important consideration in end-of-life care for older adults, and one which has been well studied in the Global North. The purpose of this article is to determine where Botswana's oldest old die (home or hospital), and to see whether cause of death, gender, or residence in a city, town, or rural area is associated with place of death. We use death certificate data from 2005 and 2006 to describe where the oldest old Batswana (the name for the people of Botswana) died, home or hospital. Two-thirds died at home. The mean age at death was 88.46 (+/- 6.21) years; more were female (56.9%); and of known causes of death, cardiovascular disease was the leading cause (16.8%). Most stated causes of death (62.4%) were listed as "unknown." Most oldest-old Batswana died in rural areas (70.1%), and in rural areas, proportionally more oldest old died at home compared to cities and towns. On multivariate analysis, being a woman > 80 years of age at death predicted home death. Future longitudinal study needs to determine preferences of place of death and the quality of death of Batswana > 80 years, especially women.

The contribution of the missionaries to the development of Setswana as a written language

The Christian missionaries of different missionary societies made a tremendous contribution to education in South Africa. Their arrival in South Africa was aimed particularly at spreading the Word of God. They therefore set about to achieve this through introduction of formal education among the Batswana people. They started by building mission schools, translating scriptural and non-scriptural books as well as writing readers for elementary classes. The extent of the contribution of these missionaries to the development of Setswana as a written language has, however, not been adequately assessed. The aim of this article is therefore to fill the gap by evaluating their contribution. This paper confines itself to the contribution of the missionaries only, as other contributions will require another article.

Rhetoric of the Thirstland: An Historical Investigation of Discourse in Botswana

The continent of Africa is rich with rhetorical traditions that remain largely unexamined. One such African context is Botswana, which means literally “land of the Tswana people.” A look into two sites of Tswana rhetoric—the traditional village meeting place known at the kgotla and traditional Tswana praise poetry—reveals much about the discursive practices of the Tswana and what such practices convey about Tswana life.

The Dialectics of Indigenous Knowledge

Indigenous knowledge (IK) has become a popular subject in the last decade. IK has been recognized by global institutions as a valuable source for scientific innovation and significant in promoting development for poorer communities. However, little attention has been paid to how communities themselves particularly conceptualize IK and how they situate this knowledge in everyday life context. This paper summarizes perceptions of IK from 20 rural communities in the Ghanzi (4) and North-East (16) districts in Botswana. Our findings indicate that IK cannot be defined by contrasting it to other knowledge systems. Rather, IK is abstract and concrete, individual and collective, specific and holistic in a dialectical manner. This inherent “unity of opposites” promotes constant change of IK. Applied to the challenge of linking IK to development, community perceptions inform us that a dialectical process-oriented approach to IK is necessary to harness it for a sustainable development and meaningful education of indigenous people in Botswana.

Bedroom Personalization by Urban Adolescents in Botswana: Developing Place Attachment

People in Botswana typically have a residence in the city for work, but home is traditionally their ancestral village. This qualitative study involved interviews of adolescent boys and girls living in Gaborone, Botswana about their bedroom environments. Through semi-structured, in-depth interviews, researchers collected qualitative data on the development of place attachment by adolescents through bedroom personalization. The outcomes indicate a clear interplay between bedroom personalization and place attachment. Youth achieved place attachment through personalization with childhood reminders, expressed identity, social interaction, and the opportunity to be creative. Youths' place attachment and place dependence were primarily attributed to factors including privacy, bigger bedrooms, bedroom contents that provide enjoyment, and objects that support their interests and goals.

Does correct knowledge about HIV and AIDS lead to safer sexual behaviour? The case of young people in Botswana

This article investigates the extent to which acquired correct knowledge about HIV and AIDS prevention and transmission is translated into protective sexual behaviours among young people in Botswana. This research uses a nationally representative sample of the Botswana AIDS Impact Survey (BAIS) conducted in 2004. The sample for the current study was limited to all people aged 10-24 who had completed the individual questionnaire of BAIS and have had sexual intercourse at the time of the survey. Both bivariate and multiple regression analyses are used to investigate the topic. The results from both bivariate and multivariate analyses indicate that a consistent and significant predictor of safe sex behaviours among young people is the knowledge that something can be done to prevent becoming infected with HIV. In the multivariate analysis, knowledge that people cannot get HIV because of witchcraft is significantly associated with the likelihood to report safe sexual behaviours whilst knowledge that a person cannot get infected with HIV through mosquito bites is significantly associated with decreased odds of reporting safe sexual behaviours. The study concludes that although correct knowledge of HIV/ AIDS prevention and transmission methods does not necessarily translate into safe sexual behaviours, some knowledge of HIV prevention and transmission methods among young people is associated with safe sexual behaviours. There are other predictors of safe sexual behaviours other than HIV-related knowledge of prevention measures. Further research that combines both qualitative and quantitative approaches is needed to clarify the exact nature of how knowledge of HIV and AIDS prevention and transmission influences protective sex behaviours. The research should also explore the role played by these unknown factors in predicting safe sex behaviours.Résumé Cet article examine dans quelle mesure les acquis correcte sur la prévention du VIH et du SIDA et transmission est traduite en protection des comportements sexuels parmi les jeunes au Botswana. Cette recherche utilise un échantillon représentatif au niveau national de le Botswana AIDS Impact Survey (BAIS) menée en 2004. L'échantillon pour l'étude actuelle a été limitée à tous les gens âgés de 10 à 24 ans, qui avait rempli le questionnaire individuel de BAIS et ont eu des relations sexuelles au moment de l'enquête. Les deux bivariée et plusieurs analyses de régression servent à enquêter sur le sujet. Les résultats des analyses multidimensionnelles tant bivariées indiquent qu'un prédicteur cohérente et significative des comportements safe sex chez les jeunes est la connaissance que quelque chose peut être faite pour empêcher l'infection par le VIH. Dans l'analyse multivariable, connaissance que les personnes ne peut pas obtenir penvent VIH en raison de la sorcellerie est fortement associé à la probabilité de comportements sexuels sécuritaire de rapport tandis que les connaissances qu'une personne ne peut pas obtenir infectée par le VIH par le biais de piqûres est considérablement associé à odds diminution des rapports des comportements sexuels en toute sécurité. L'étude conclut que, bien que la bonne connaissance des méthodes de prévention et de la transmission du VIH/SIDA ne se traduit pas nécessairement par les comportements sexuels en toute sécurité, certaines connaissances de prévention du VIH et de méthodes de transmission parmi les jeunes est associée à des comportements sexuels en toute sécurité. Il existe des autres indicateurs de sécurité des comportements sexuels autres que les connaissances liient au VIH de mesures de prévention. D'autres recherches qui combinent la fois qualitative et quantitative sont nécessaire de préciser la nature exacte du comment connaissance de prévention du VIH et du SIDA et de la transmission influe sur les comportements sexuels de protection. La recherche devrait examiner également le rôle joué par ces facteurs inconnus en prévision des comportements safe sex.Mots clés : Botswana jeunes ; le VIH/SIDA ; comportement sexuel ; prévention ; transmission.

“By patience, labour and prayer . The voice of the unseen God in the language of the Bechuana Nation .” A reflection on the history of Robert Moffat’s Setswana Bible (1857)<sup>1</sup>

The translation of the Bible into Setswana by Robert Moffat in 1857 was the first in an African language in sub-Sahara Africa and also the first Bible to be printed here — at the mission station at Kuruman, 150 years ago. This Bible translation had an enormous influence, reaching the Batswana people in different countries in Southern Africa and is still held in high esteem by them. The question should be asked why? What made Moffat’s Setswana Bible so popular? The relevant primary sources — collected and studied as the focus of this article — suggest that it might have been the daily life and work of this missionary and his wife for nearly half a century amongst the Batswana. Robert and Mary Moffat convinced “the Bechuana nation” to accept and read the Gospel in their own language, by living “the voice of the Unseen God”.

Educational rights for indigenous communities in Botswana and Namibia

The indigenous peoples of Botswana and Namibia, the San, have the lowest educational attainment rates of any population in both countries, despite various efforts to incorporate them into mainstream education systems. Both countries are signatories of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which includes several references to education. This document, and other rights mechanisms, address both the right to access mainstream educational institutions that respect and accommodate the languages and cultures of indigenous children, and the right to ‘establish and control their own educational systems and institutions, providing education in their own languages in a manner appropriate to their cultural methods of teaching and learning’ (Article 14). This article provides an overview of the current state of both of these aspects of educational rights for indigenous peoples in Botswana and Namibia. What is the best way to improve educational options for San communities in southern Africa? Can a rights-based approach be effective? Does an indigenous rights perspective have anything to add to the debate? This paper examines these questions, and links rights-based arguments with other approaches to education. It argues that a variety of approaches are needed to fully address the complex issues confronting San communities today. A sophisticated understanding of indigenous rights acknowledges this, and if used strategically, could provide a comprehensive and productive approach to educational issues for San communities.

The Tswana tshimo: a homegarden system of useful plants with a particular layout and function.

The Tswana tshimo (homegarden) is a model of sustainable resource management in South Africa. However, gardens of indigenous cultures are often considered to be spontaneous and disorganized. A reconnaissance survey of homegardens of the Batswana people in the North-West Province of South Africa examined the different use categories of garden plants, the indigenous and alien composition of garden floras, and determining whether a specific homegarden layout exist with tshingwana (microgardens) containing useful species. A floristic survey was conducted of 163 randomly selected tshimo’s from three Batswana communities (deep rural, rural and peri-urban). A total of 525 useful plant species belonging to 105 plant families were recorded. These could be divided into four main plant use categories, namely 98 food, 91 medicinal, 281 ornamental and 49 structurally functional species (e.g. hedges), while six species had other uses. Deep rural and rural homegardens are characterized by a higher percentage of naturally occurring, indigenous useful plant species when compared to the predominantly alien flora of peri-urban areas. Deep rural and rural homegardens had a specific garden layout that was characterised by six micro-gardens, namely food gardens, medicinal gardens, ornamental gardens, structural species, open areas and natural areas. In contrast, peri-urban Batswana gardens had a garden layout similar to European gardens.

Does testing HIV negative encourage potentially dangerous beliefs? A study with young people in Botswana

While it is assumed that HIV testing could contribute to the reduction of HIV infection rates, little if any research exists regarding whether HIV testing could inadvertently also contribute to the spread of HIV. The study explored whether the experience of testing HIV negative could result in people developing false beliefs about their capability of preventing HIV infection. The study investigated HIV testing and related beliefs among 347 students (18 to 21 years) enrolled at the University of Botswana. Analyses explored whether students who had tested for HIV infection differed in their HIV-related beliefs from students who had never gone for an HIV test. Compared to their counterparts, students who went for an HIV test were more likely to believe that they could trust their dating partner enough not to use a condom and that their dating partner was HIV negative too, even when their partner had not gone for an HIV test; and they were less likely to fear that they could contract HIV from a sexual relationship. The results indicate that the experience of having received an HIV negative test result made students believe that they were in control of HIV, which made them more vulnerable to HIV infection. Key words: Adolescence, Botswana, cognitive development, dating, distorted beliefs, HIV/AIDS, HIV testing, sexual risk behaviour, self-deception, trust in relationships.

The “Failures of Culture”: Christianity, Kinship, and Moral Discourses about Orphans during Botswana's AIDS Crisis

In the midst of Botswana’s HIV epidemic, moral discourses about the provision of care for the nation’s 100,000-plus orphaned children encapsulate Tswana people’s most fundamental anxieties about the effects of AIDS. This article examines a shifting relationship between popular narratives about the supposed shortcomings of Tswana “culture” and widely proliferating assertions that Christian love can provide a more successful moral paradigm for the care of orphans. As Tswana people increasingly draw on a Christian framework to imagine alternative approaches to caring for needy children, they are responding to profound dislocations in the material and demographic foundations of their society. By tracing these moral claims and their transformation over time, this paper illuminates the changing context of social reproduction during Botswana’s AIDS crisis.

People Living With HIV and AIDS on the Brink: Stigma—A Complex Sociocultural Impediment in the Fight Against HIV and AIDS in Botswana

HIV-related stigma is a life-altering phenomenon. The consequence of the stigmatization process sets apart stigmatized person(s) as a distinct category, leading to various forms of disapproval, rejection, exclusion, labeling, stereotyping, and discrimination. Stigma of HIV-positive people in Botswana is a complex social phenomenon associated with the disease itself and the behaviors that lead to infection. This is a synthesis paper based on the literature review on HIV- and AIDS-related stigmatization of HIV-positive people in Botswana and in-depth interviews with people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHAs). I examine the literature on HIV- and AIDS-related stigmatization and subsequent discrimination and the implications for intervention programs for people living with HIV and AIDS. The findings from the literature and in-depth interviews show that HIV–AIDS-related stigma is deeply embedded in societal structures and culture which promote nonacceptance of those branded HIV positive. This often is reinforced at a practical level by pervasive negative attitudes toward PLWHAs. Recommendations argue for the adoption of Healthy Relationship. This intervention seeks to promote and strengthen decision-making skills among PLWHAs and programs that promote destigmatization of, and tolerant attitudes toward, PLWHAs.

The impact of a buddy system on the self-care behaviours of women living with HIV/AIDS in Botswana

A needs assessment done among HIV-positive (HIV+ve) people in Botswana in 2000 indicated that these people required social support. Based on these results, a buddy system for and by HIV+ve women was instituted in Botswana during 2002. This study examined the impact of the buddy system on the self-care behaviours of 116 HIV+ve women volunteers who used the services of COCEPWA (Coping Centre for People with Aids) during 2002. The convenience sample comprised 39 buddies who completed the buddy training programme, 39 patients assigned to the 39 buddies and 38 controls who lived in areas where the buddy programme did not operate. The results indicate that HIV+ve patients who had buddies showed improved self-care behaviours from April 2002 until November 2002 compared to the controls. These self-care behaviours encompassed informing a number of other people about their HIV+ve status, compliance with tuberculosis treatment, CD4 quantification and adherence to antiretroviral therapy. Although the differences were not always statistically significant, the patients showed greater improvements than the controls in all self-care behaviours. Thus the buddy system might have assisted and empowered the patients to achieve higher levels of self-care behaviours than the controls.
 
 Opsomming
 ’n Behoeftebepaling wat in 2000 van MIV-positiewe (MIV+we) persone in Botswana gedoen is, het getoon dat hierdie mense sosiale ondersteuning nodig gehad het. Gebaseer op hierdie bevindinge is ’n “buddy”-stelsel vir en deur MIV+we vroue gedurende 2002 in die land ingestel. Hierdie studie het die impak van die “buddy”-stelsel op die selfsorggedrag van 116 MIV+we vroulike vrywilligers ondersoek wat die dienste van COCEPWA (Coping Centre for People with AIDS) gedurende 2002 benut het. Die gerieflikheidsteekproef het uit 39 “buddies” bestaan wat die “buddy”-opleidingsprogram voltooi het, 39 pasiënte wat aan die 39 “buddies” toegewys is en 38 kontrolepatiënte wat in areas gewoon het waar die “buddy”-program nog nie in werking gestel is nie. Die bevindinge dui aan dat MIV+we pasiënte wat “buddies” gehad het verbeterde selfsorggedrag van April 2002 tot November 2002 getoon het, in vergelyking met die kontrolegroep. Selfsorggedrag is aangedui deur die aantal ander persone wat ingelig is omtrent die individu se MIV+we status, die nakoming van tuberkulosebehandeling, CD4-bepalings en die nakoming van antiretrovirale behandeling. Alhoewel die verskille nie altyd statisties beduidend was nie, het die pasiënte groter verbeteringe getoon in vergelyking met die kontrolegroep in alle aspekte van selfsorggedrag. Dus is dit moontlik dat die “buddy”-stelsel die pasiënte ondersteun en bemagtig het, wat hulle in staat gestel het om ’n groter mate van selfsorggedrag te bereik as die kontrolegroep.

Written On Our Hearts: Tswana Christians and the 'Word of God' in the Mid-Nineteenth Century

AbstractThe adoption of Christianity by Tswana people in southern Africa during the nineteenth century generally involved being inspired in some way by stories and ideas presented in the Bible, but the role of Christian scripture varied according to local and personal circumstances. Although European missionaries introduced Christianity to the Tswana, they had little control over the different ways that early Tswana converts perceived, adapted and proclaimed the new teaching. This was particularly true among western and northern Tswana in the mid-nineteenth century before the extension of colonial rule into the interior, as many Tswana communities remained largely intact and were able to accommodate Christianity on their own terms. Rather than being simply a European-made tool, the 'lefoko la Modimo' (word of God) was also an expression of Tswana beliefs and aspirations, composed not on passive objects of missionary evangelism, colonial rule or scholarly inquiry 'but on tablets of human hearts'.

Batswana Women and Law

Les femmes batswana et le droit. Societe, education et migration (1840-1980). – Traditionnellement, la position socio-juridique des femmes batswana a ete prescrite et proscrite par une multitude de restrictions comprenant des lois, des reglements et des sanctions sociales. Le statut et la position de ces femmes ont ete influenceset modeles en grande partie par leur position dans la societe traditionnelle tswana. Cette position refletait la place inferieure qu’elles occupaient telle qu’elle etait definie dans le droit coutumier/traditionnel. L’acces des femmes aux ressources etait donc dicte par leur position telle qu’elle etait definie et strictement regulee par le droit coutumier et, apresla periode coloniale, par une combinaison de droit coutumier et de common law. L’education coloniale preparait les hommes et les femmes a differents roles dans l’economie politique, conformement aux ideaux victoriens qui inspiraient l’ideologie coloniale d’Etat. Cela necessitait la reorganisation des relations productives et sociales des Tswana pour les rapprocher des besoins de l’Etat colonial. Toutefois, l’education coloniale devait repondre aux besoins des Batswana et a leur interpretation de celle-ci. Le Protectorat de Bechuanaland resta tres sous-developpe dans la mesure ou les Batswana se trouverent de plus en plus absorbes par le marche du travail sud-africain pendant toute la periode coloniale. Cet article avance qu’au cours de ce processus, l’education et la migration ont transforme, remodele et reorganise les relations sociales et productives et, ce faisant, redefini le statut socio-juridique des femmes.

Colonizing currencies. Beasts, banknotes and the colour of money in South Africa Taking stock. A response to Turgeon and Creighton

In Archaeological dialogues 12.2 Jean and John Comaroff explored the role of commensuration – the mechanisms that render equitable and negotiable different orders of value – in the production of society and history. While equilibration, standardization and conversion are implicated in most theories of money and commodification, their nature as social processes has not been adequately specified, above all in the construction of universalizing ideologies and modernist political and economic regimes. They pursue these processes in relation to one African theatre, examining the ways in which different regimes of value, brought up against one another in the encounter between the southern Tswana peoples and European colonizers, became the subject of both conflict and complex mediation. Cows, coin and contracts – which had the capacity to construct and negate difference – soon were invested here with magical qualities. But colonized peoples were also sensitive to the capacity of such currencies to enable or impede convertibility, and to the forms of abstraction and incorporation they permit. Which is why, in South Africa and elsewhere, those currencies often became metonymic of the contestations of value on which colonial struggles, tout court, were played out.In this short essay they respond to the comments on their article by John Creighton and Laurier Turgeon.

Social and psychological factors associated with willingness to test for HIV infection among young people in Botswana

In spite of extensive campaigns to promote voluntary counselling and testing through the radio, television, newspapers and mass rallies, testing for HIV remains a challenge in Botswana. Using a representative sample of 1,294 students from secondary schools and tertiary institutions, the study investigates the effects of socio-demographic background variables, family coherence, interpersonal relations, sexual experience and knowledge about sexual health, on willingness to test for HIV infection. The results show that willingness to test for HIV infection was negatively associated with being sexually active and having a number of partners. Indicators of family, coherence, psychological bonding and personal adjustment such as common residence among parents, emotional support from the family attachment to parents, happiness with life in general and satisfaction with life as a student were associated with willingness to test. The importance of sexual activity, number of partners, happiness with life in general, level of attachment to father and physical fights with other children were identified as the social and psychological predictors of willingness to test for HIV using multiple logistic regression. The study highlights the importance of continued education about voluntary counselling and testing among sexually active young people, especially those from poorer backgrounds in rural areas.

Beasts, banknotes and the colour of money in colonial South Africa

This essay explores the role of commensuration – the mechanisms that render equitable and negotiable different orders of value – in the production of society and history. While equilibration, standardization and conversion are implicated in most theories of money and commodification, their nature as social processes has not been adequately specified, above all in the construction of universalizing ideologies and modernist political and economic regimes. We pursue these processes in relation to one African theatre, examining the ways in which different regimes of value, brought up against one another in the encounter between the southern Tswana peoples and European colonizers, became the subject of both conflict and complex mediation. Cows, coin and contracts – which had the capacity to construct and negate difference – soon were invested here with magical qualities. But colonized peoples were also sensitive to the capacity of such currencies to enable or impede convertibility and the forms of abstraction and incorporation they permit. Which is why, in South Africa and elsewhere, those currencies often became metonymic of the contestations of value on which colonial struggles, tout court, were played out.

Crossing boundaries. Regimes of value in intercultural colonial contexts. Reflections on Jean and John Comaroff's ‘Beasts, banknotes and the colour of money’

This thought-provoking essay strives to theorize the concept of ‘regimes of value’ and, more specifically, the role of material objects in the convertibility of different orders of value in the making of modern economies and societies. Put forth by Arjun Appadurai in his edited volume The social life of things (1986), the notion of regime of value originally referred to the use of categories of material objects in the construction of value within a specific cultural context. Appadurai was more concerned with the way value is invested in objects than in theories of exchange and currency, consequently the notion remained relatively untheorized. Jean and John Comaroff break new theoretical ground in at least two ways. First, they take into consideration and juxtapose different regimes of value – primarily cattle for the southern Tswana peoples and currency for the European colonizers – to see how they are constructed and become the focus of complex mediations between these groups in the colonial context of South Africa. Cattle, like currency (in the form of coins or paper money), come to objectify value because they have the power to make or break social relations, to build new social hierarchies or overturn old ones, to do or undo moral economies. They show that different regimes of value can coexist in the same social space and be played out against one another. Second, Jean and John Comaroff interrogate the role of conversion, or ‘commensuration’, as they say, of regimes of value, that is, their power to make objects from different cultural contexts universally objectifiable, comparable and negotiable. Instead of making difference, as is usually thought, it is the capacity to negate difference and make all things equal that expresses the effectiveness of a regime of value. It is also these processes of commensuration and conversion that give material objects their magical qualities, through which they become fetishized and ‘seem to have a power all of their own’ (p. 131). More than the written word or oral discourse, it is material objects that become the preferred tools and means of colonial domination. The authors contribute then to a better understanding of the workings of political economies as well as to the materialities of colonialism.

The Routine Offer of HIV Counseling and Testing: A Human Right

I or over a decade, the duty to obtain informed consent for HIV testing was one of the most inviolable precepts of the human rights to the HIV epidemic. In the course of 2004, however, a charge toward a approach to HIV testing gathered pace and supporters. The year began with Botswana President Festus Mogae implementing a new policy of HIV testing under which, henceforward, all people in Botswana would automatically be offered an HIV test when they utilized health services.' Those who did not want an HIV test would have the right to opt-out. Although the of an HIV test does not in and of itself violate the established principles of informed consent, it does shift the onus of requesting the test from the patient to the provider. This might appear an innocent shift, but in countries where the relationship between health users and providers is an unequal one, it is likely to be interpreted as a request to test rather than an offer. Later in the year, both UNAIDS and WHO, partly in response to Botswana's initiative, endorsed the routine offer of an HIV test and advocated mainstreaming HIV testing into health care services in countries with a high HIV prevalence.2 However, both organizations were careful to warn against the new being a cause of human rights violations and were careful to situate it within the human right to HIV prevention and treatment services.3 They also