Brookmans Park girls empowering Botswana women

Girls from a Brookmans Park school are helping to empower women in Botswana through a new charity enterprise.

Queenswood School girls plan to sell homemade Botswanan jewellery and hold occasional bake sales to raise money for Hope for Her Botswana, which aims to tap into the artistry and industriousness of destitute women in the village of Gamodubu.

All proceeds from the sale of jewellery produced by these women will go back into the local community.

Hope for Her Botswana is an initiative of charity Ray of Hope, which has links with the Hertfordshire school.

Since 2016, 20 pupils have spent time in Botswana as guests of Maru-a-Pula independent school in Gabarone.

Both visits had a key focus on community service and involved spending time with Ray of Hope, formed four years ago by a group of Maru-a-Pula Sixth Form students.

The partnership has raised about £400 for a day care centre for orphans and vulnerable children in Gamodubu village.

On November 7, former Maru-a-Pula student and Ray of Hope member Thato Mauco visited Queenswood School to speak about Hope for Her Botswana.