Kikase

Beyond Titles: Why Botswana Needs Builders, Not Just Graduates

I have been watching something for a long time. Something that bothers me more than I can explain.

We have too many titles and too little to show for them. Masters degrees. PhDs. Certifications. The letters after our names keep growing. But the problems in our country keep growing too. Unemployment. Crime. Broken roads. A collapsing health system. A failing education system. The titles are not translating into solutions.

And I have started to wonder why.

Maybe it is because we have been trained to memorize, not to understand. We have been trained to pass exams, not to solve problems. We have been trained to produce papers, not to build things that work.

In Burkina Faso, President Ibrahim Traore has issued a directive that should make every education minister in Africa pause and think. He has instructed technical institutes and universities to move away from purely abstract research and focus on applied engineering, reverse-engineering, and local manufacturing to solve domestic development challenges. He said: "If you are an engineer, for your thesis, you must manufacture, copy, or build something. Otherwise, we will no longer support the writing of long papers."

He told young people: "Copy everything you can copy except theory." He said: "If, at the end of the year, a student cannot produce something practical but only theory, give them something and let them copy it. Whether it is a motor part or anything else, let them copy it or create something."

That is the kind of thinking that builds nations.

In China, the government recognized the same problem. Their "Manufacturing Powerhouse Strategy" and "Emerging Engineering Education Initiative" were designed to move away from excessive academic orientation and weak practical teaching. Chinese universities are now required to address the disconnect between theoretical knowledge and industrial practice. The results speak for themselves. One joint cultivation program between Tsinghua University and China Aerospace shortened the R&D cycle of key rocket engine components from 18 months to 12 months. Patent conversion rates increased from 30% to 65%. The onboarding adaptation period for graduates was reduced from 6 months to 3 months.

In Indonesia, Universitas Gadjah Mada is training vocational school teachers in reverse engineering technology for heavy equipment. Teachers learn practical skills in 3D scanning, CAD modeling, 3D printing, and CNC routing. The goal is to bridge the gap between vocational education and modern industrial needs.

These countries have understood something we have not. That education must be linked to national development. That theory without practice is hollow. That a graduate who cannot build is not truly educated.

But here in Botswana, we have done the opposite.

Our students memorize to write exams. They cram information, regurgitate it, and forget it the moment they leave the exam room. They graduate with certificates but no competence. They become employees who cannot perform because they never truly understood what they memorized. They become leaders who cannot think creatively because they were never taught to solve problems. They become managers who depend on foreigners to help solve the simplest challenges because their own education never taught them how to think, only how to repeat.

That is why our government trusts foreign companies more than our own. That is why you hardly see our own leaders believe in local companies. Not because local companies are not capable. Because the leaders themselves are products of a failed system. A system that taught them to memorize, not to understand. To obey, not to create. To follow, not to lead.

This is the painful truth that no one wants to say out loud.

We have created a system that produces graduates who cannot build. We reward theory while ignoring practice. We celebrate titles while overlooking competence. We give degrees to people who cannot create. And then we wonder why our country is not developing.

But it does not have to be this way.

The solutions exist. Other countries have already found them. Burkina Faso is requiring students to build. China is linking education to industrial policy. Indonesia is training teachers in practical skills.

We can do the same.
But it starts with honesty. It starts with admitting that the system we have is not working. It starts with recognizing that a degree is not the same as competence. That a paper is not the same as a solution. That a title is not the same as a contribution.

It starts with asking the hard question: What can you build?

Not what can you memorize. Not what can you write. Not what certificate can you hang on your wall.

What can you actually build?

Our elders are the pillars of our communities, and it’s time we give back.

Join us on 3 August 2026 at the Mathubantwa Post Office as we provide care, resources, and a listening ear. This initiative is powered by the generosity of our sponsors and the heart of our community.

Let's show them they are not forgotten.

The Church I Grew Up In

I remember when I was young. Every Saturday, my parents would wake me up before the sun. We would get dressed, and they would take me to church.

Our church had branches everywhere. In every village. In every town. Across the world. The Seventh-day Adventist Church was a global family, and I was part of it.

As a child, I never thought about where the things came from. The hymn books. The Sabbath school lessons. The printed materials we received every week. The buildings. The schools. The hospitals. It all just… existed. Like the air we breathed.

But as I grew older, I started to wonder.

Who printed all those books? Who built those schools? Who paid for the hospitals? How many jobs did our church create? How many people did it employ? How many businesses did it support?

The answers surprised me.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church runs one of the largest Protestant educational systems in the world. Over 7,500 schools. Nearly 2 million students. From primary to university. They run hospitals. They run publishing houses. They run retirement homes. They run radio stations.

They do not just preach. They build. They employ. They create.

And I realised something that has stayed with me ever since.

If the church can do that globally, why can't it do that here?

The Church in Botswana
Our churches in Botswana are powerful. They pull huge numbers of educated people. Leaders. Successful business people. The rich. The influential. They gather every week in large numbers.

But what do they do with that power?

Most of our traditional churches are still focused on just preaching. On Sunday services. On collecting offerings. On maintaining buildings. On keeping things as they have always been.

But the world has changed. The government cannot do it alone. The private sector cannot do it alone. Youth unemployment is nearly 40%. Crime is rising. Gender-based violence is an epidemic.

The church is sitting on a goldmine of potential that we have barely tapped.

What Churches Are Already Doing
Some churches in Botswana are already leading by example.

The Anglican Church donated small business startup kits to ex-offenders; manicure, bricklaying, upholstery, carpentry kits. The Minister of Justice said the partnership between the Botswana Prison Services and the church has been impactful, helping break the cycle of re-offending.

Since 2021, the Anglican Church has supported over 200 ex-offenders. Fewer than 50 have re-offended.
That is not a small number. That is a demonstration that skills and support can break cycles of crime.

The Roman Catholic Church has been involved in significant land development deals in Botswana, selling portions of land for commercial and residential development. Their primary focus is to sustain the operations of the church and pursue their religious agenda.

They are investing in real estate. They are creating economic activity.

The government itself has acknowledged the church's role. Minister for State President Kabo Morwaeng said the role played by the church in the development of Botswana through education, health, and bringing people to God remains paramount in building the nation. He said "government cannot function without the church."

What Churches Are Doing Elsewhere
Around the world, churches are doing far more than preaching. They are building economies.

In Rwanda, one church distributed over Rwf1 billion in loans and created more than 1,000 jobs for the youth. They acquired a microfinance institution serving 4,718 clients. They run schools serving 2,072 students, a health centre providing care to 14,899 patients, and media platforms reaching up to 70,000 listeners daily.

In Nigeria, the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja launched a vocational training centre to combat youth unemployment. They train youth in cinematography, video editing, AI, cyber security, app development, carpentry, solar installation, catering, and more. After training, graduates receive startup kits and are connected to markets.

The Executive Director of the initiative explained: "We identified a gap in the lives of our youth. Many are graduates, but they roam the streets without jobs. Government employment is not enough."

In Ghana, a former General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God Church called for a paradigm shift. He said: "The era where congregants only 'give, give, give' must evolve into one where the church also gives back in practical ways."

The Academic Evidence
Research has found a significant positive correlation between ministry-led entrepreneurship and local economic advancement. Churches that adopted entrepreneurial models demonstrated measurable improvements in employment generation, household income, and community welfare.

The study concluded that embedding entrepreneurial principles into pastoral practice can serve as a strategic tool for reducing poverty and unemployment.

The Question
I remember the church I grew up in. I remember the hymns. The community. The love. But I also remember wondering where all the things came from.

Now I know. They came from a church that understood that faith without works is dead. That preaching without building is hollow. That prayer without action is incomplete.

What if every major denomination in Botswana ran a vocational training centre? What if churches invested in real estate development not just to sustain themselves, but to create jobs? What if the church partnered with government to train young people in skills that actually lead to employment?

The infrastructure is there. The trust is there. The moral authority is there. The only thing missing is the will.

What If the Church Rose Up?
A church that creates jobs is a church that heals a nation. A church that trains young people is a church that builds a future. A church that invests in its community is a church that lives its faith.

The government is asking for help. The people need hope. The church has the infrastructure, the trust, and the moral authority to make a difference.

The question is whether it will rise to the challenge.

The Price of Love: A Crisis We Are Not Talking About

We have turned relationships into transactions.

And in doing so, we have broken something sacred.

Certified wellness coach Agatha Atlholang observes that men who agree to give allowances reduce themselves to ATMs. They lose integrity, and at the end of the day, they are not respected. She warns that the culture of girlfriend allowance undermines the family unit that once shaped children to value hard work and resilience. "That structure taught the girl child to value herself, to study hard and aim higher. Today, the mentality of girlfriend allowance destroys that foundation and only drives people towards singleness".

The Weight on Young Men

Research reveals that Botswana's economic decline is colliding head-on with the expectation that men must serve as providers. Rising unemployment has rendered many men financially incapacitated and socially burdened. The mounting pressure is fueling toxic masculinity, intensifying gender-based violence, and exacerbating mental health challenges.

Atlholang also points to a deeper root cause: the absence of responsible father figures. "When the father is not present to guide the boy child, he grows up seeing nothing wrong with transactional s*x".

A confidential source told Weekend Post: "The pressure does not disappear just because the economy is bad. Instead, it turns inward or outward in destructive ways."
In Malawi, a recent mental health report found that 39% of men sought therapy for relationship strain and 26% for financial pressure. Therapists noted that suicidal thoughts are likely underreported, suppressed beneath layers of shame, fear, and a culture that teaches men to suffer in silence.
When men cannot afford to date, some become desperate. Desperation turns to anger. Anger turns to violence. Some become rapists because they cannot afford to date. Some mo**st children because they have lost all sense of right and wrong. Some turn to crime to fund the lifestyle they are expected to provide. This is not an excuse. It is an explanation of a system that is destroying us.

The Trap Women Are In

But women are not free from this system either. They are trapped in a cycle where their value is tied to what a man can provide.
Guardian Sun reports that "broke women never leave abusive relationships". The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence found that 85% of women who leave an abusive relationship return, and many attribute their inability to deal with their finances as a major factor.

Some women stay in abusive relationships to avoid living in poverty. Dr Paula Otukile explains that financial strain keeps women in abusive relationships. "Some women often get into relationships without being financially stable and it has proven that finances are a major catalyst that fuel abuse".
When women cannot attract a "high value man" because of their circumstances, their self-confidence crumbles. They begin to believe they are not enough. Not pretty enough. Not worthy enough. Some turn to prostitution, not because they want to, but because they have been told that their worth is tied to what men will pay for them. Others settle for men who do not respect them, because they believe they cannot do better.

Men refuse to date women with children because they say they cannot afford an extra mouth to feed. Step-mothers reject their husband's biological children because they want all the resources for themselves. Children are sent away to live with relatives, not as an act of love, but as an act of survival. Families are broken. Children are abandoned. And the cycle continues.

The Fatherhood Crisis

The numbers paint a grim picture. Registered marriages in Botswana dropped to a ten-year low of 4,517 in 2024, a 41% decline from 2021. Men now marry at an average age of 44, women at 38.

Log Raditlhokwa, a social work lecturer at the University of Botswana, observes that shrinking pay cheques have thinned the rank of marriageable men. He describes single parenting as a serious blot arising from democracy. "Fragile families lead to chaos in schools and later in the community."
Research has consistently found that children born out of wedlock have elevated risks of falling into poverty, failing in school or suffering emotional or behavioural challenges. One study concluded that young people raised in father-absent families view their personhood as inferior, less guarded, and incomplete, relative to those born and raised in married-couple families.

The Pain of Fatherlessness

Children bear the deepest scars.

When fathers are absent, children grow up searching for love in all the wrong places. Boys who grow up without fathers often become men who do not know how to be fathers. They have no model of healthy masculinity. They do not know how to love, how to provide, how to protect. They grow up angry, confused, and lost. And they pass that pain on to the next generation.

Girls who grow up without fathers often seek validation from men in unhealthy ways. They are more likely to fall into abusive relationships, to accept less than they deserve, to believe that love is something you have to earn through sacrifice. They grow up without the security that a father's presence provides, without the knowledge that they are loved unconditionally. And they pass that pain on to their children.

Single mothers are often forced into relationships not out of love, but out of survival. They are exposed to being used by different men who offer temporary relief but no lasting commitment. Their children watch, learn, and repeat the cycle. Stepmothers reject their partner's children because they want all the resources for themselves and their own biological children. Children are sent away to live with relatives, not as an act of love, but as an act of desperation.

This is the darkness we are not talking about.

The Question We Must Ask

Ratang Thupa dismissed girlfriend allowance as "prostitution in disguise". Others fear it could open another door to gender-based violence. And Victor Mbiganyi argued: "Just imagine your son struggling to start a family because he cannot afford a girlfriend allowance."

The research is clear. The crisis is real. We have created a system where men are judged by their ability to provide, and women are judged by their ability to attract a provider. Both are trapped. Both are suffering. Both are paying the price.

When we reduce relationships to what someone can give us, we lose something essential. We lose the ability to see each other as whole people. We lose the capacity for genuine connection. We lose the foundation that families and communities are built on.
Real connection is not about what you can get from someone. It is about what you can become together. It is about showing up not because you have to, but because you want to. It is about choosing each other not because of what the other person offers, but because of who they are.

We have to stop treating relationships like business deals.

He built our nation with wisdom, grounded it in our heritage, and polished it with the wealth of our land. Today, we honor the man who carved Botswana's destiny.

The Systems We Inherited

We inherited a world we did not design. And we have been living in it without asking who built it.

"In the beginning" taught us that systems can be built to last. That creation was designed to be self-sustaining. That the Creator set it in motion and then rested.

But what systems did we actually inherit?

Where did they come from? Were they designed to work in our absence, or were they designed to keep us dependent?

The Education We Inherited
When the missionaries came, they brought a schooling model imported directly from Britain. It was bureaucratic and authoritarian in style. Its aim was not to liberate but to subordinate. It emphasised hard work, strict discipline, subordination to their betters, and Christian humility. It was designed to produce a workforce that would occupy subordinate positions in factories and offices.

A good student had to display docility, obedience and submissiveness towards her or his teachers. The system was designed to produce workers, not creators. Followers, not leaders. People who wait, not people who build.

The missionaries disliked Batswana traditional customs mainly because they believed in the superiority of European culture over the African one. They condemned traditional rituals, songs, and arts, labelling them "things of Satan." African dancing and music were banned from the curricula. Indigenous literatures were deemphasized or completely abolished.

The suppression of Batswana religious and social rituals had a great impact on social and moral coherence among Batswana. Parental authority lost its meaning. Traditional religious values were shattered.

And then we wonder why we are unemployed. We were trained to be dependent.

The education system we inherited was a system of control. It was designed to make us obedient, not thoughtful. It was designed to make us follow orders, not to think independently.

The Religion We Inherited
And what about our faith? We were told our ancestors were wrong. Our traditions were evil. Our rituals were things of Satan. We were told that the only way to be saved was to become like someone else.

The missionaries who came to Bechuanaland carried within them an unquestioned belief in the superiority of their own culture and religion. The acceptance of Christianity meant the abandonment of the domestic cult of ancestor-worship. It forbade polygamy and various customs directly connected to marriage. It brought new forms of wedding and death ritual, baptism and confirmation ceremonies. It challenged the former coherence of Batswana homes.

And now, look at what we have. A phenomenal growth of religious activities everywhere. Radio, television, crusades. Everywhere you turn, there is a preacher telling you what to believe, how to live, who to follow. The religious explosion in our society is having nefarious consequences such as losing the fabric of culture, putting in desuetude African beliefs, evacuating all traditional cultural and spiritual elements that identify an African Motswana.

Christianity has now institutionalized itself in state functions as if there were a theocracy. Politicians feel obligated to associate themselves with Christian events and celebrations. Africa is under a neo-colonial commandeering of religion.

Who taught us that our ancestors were wrong? Who taught us to hate who we were?

The Politics We Inherited
And what about our government? The research shows that the Westminster system we adopted has not fully taken root. The system of government was designed to concentrate power. The legislature's ability to hold the executive accountable is constrained by the design of the system. The judiciary's independence is compromised by the appointment process.

The British Protectorate which was declared over Botswana incorporated South African law with very little modification. Roman-Dutch law that had been developed by the superior courts of the Cape Colony became the common law in Botswana. Even the legal system we use is not our own.

We were told we were building a united nation. But unity meant becoming like everyone else.

Those who did not conform were left behind. They were excluded from the Botswana miracle because they would not assimilate. They would not become what they were told to become.

The Hard Questions
We need to ask the hard questions. The questions that make us uncomfortable. The questions that challenge everything we have been taught to believe.

Who taught us to be unemployed? The education system that was designed to produce workers, not creators. A system that emphasized obedience over creativity. A system that trained us to follow orders, not to think independently.

Who taught us to commit crimes? The system that excluded us. The system that stripped us of our cultural identity and gave us a foreign one that did not fit. The system that told us we were free but gave us no real freedom.

Who taught politicians to be corrupt? The system that concentrated power. The system that put a few people in control and everyone else in submission. The system that created a hierarchy where the top has no accountability and the bottom has no voice.

Who told us our traditional beliefs were evil? The missionaries who believed in the superiority of European culture. They condemned our rituals, our music, our dances, our arts. They labelled them "things of Satan."

Who told us we had no history? The colonialists who wrote the history. They painted Africa as the "Dark Continent." They said we had no religion, no culture, no civilization.

Who told us to accept anything European as excellent? The colonial education system that induced "attitudes of human inequality" and made us despise our own culture.

Who told us that the systems we have are the only systems possible? The system itself. The system that protects itself. The system that trains us to believe that this is the only way. The system that makes it impossible to imagine anything different.

What If We Broke Free?
The creation story teaches us that systems can be built to last. To be self-sustaining. To evolve. The Creator set it in motion and then rested. Not because He was tired. Because rest is part of the system.

What if we built systems like that? What if we built political systems that did not depend on virtuous leaders? What if we built economic systems that did not depend on a single industry? What if we built education systems that produced creators, not consumers?

We have been living in a house built by someone else. But we can build our own.

The research shows that Botswana has always had rich traditions of education. Traditional education aimed to initiate the youth into the activities of society, emphasizing character formation and development, knowledge and understanding of Setswana culture, traditions, and values. Traditional education focused on promoting acceptable behaviour and shaping young people's values and attitudes. It stressed responsibility, good behaviour, service, obligations, and cooperation.

We have not been taught to appreciate this. We have been taught to despise it.

But it is not too late. We can unlearn the programming. We can reclaim our heritage. We can build systems that work for us. Systems that reflect who we are. Systems that are designed to last. Systems that can function in our absence.

The systems we build will outlast us. What kind of world are we creating?

In the Beginning

There is a story we have been telling for millennia. A story that begins with four words that changed everything.

"In the beginning, God created..."
But here is what we have not been paying attention to.

The story of creation is not just about how things began. It is a blueprint for how things work. It is a lesson about building systems that can function even in our absence. And we have been reading it wrong.

The World Before Order
The ancient world was terrifying. The cosmic forces were at war. Chaos could break out at any moment. The gods were fighting each other, and humans were caught in the middle. The world was fragile. Equilibrium was precarious. That is why they performed rituals to preserve balance, to keep chaos at bay.
The earth was "formless and void." Darkness covered the face of the deep. The Hebrew words are "tohu wa-bohu" - confusion and chaos. Emptiness. A state of disorder that precedes the divine act of creation.

This is where the story begins. Not with order. Not with beauty. Not with purpose. With chaos.
And then, something radical happened.

The Blueprint of Creation
Genesis 1 is not mythology. It is a sophisticated philosophical treatise. It draws from the creation stories of the ancient Near East Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Hittite myths. But it transforms them.

Most creation stories begin with violence. Gods fighting gods. Bloody battles. Cosmic wars. But Genesis begins with words. "Let there be light."

The writer of Genesis took a radical step. They said: all these forces you fear? The water, the light, the earth, the sky? They are not gods. They are creations. They come from one source. And that source is order, not chaos. Good, not evil. Purpose, not randomness.
God is the great Originator and Initiator. He does not fight chaos. He speaks it into submission.

And then He builds.

Day by day. In an orderly progression. Light is separated from darkness. Water is placed above and below. Dry land appears. Vegetation sprouts. The sun and moon are set to mark seasons and years. Everything has its place and its purpose.

And then came the most radical part.
The system was designed to be self-sustaining. It was designed to continue even after the Creator rested.

The Self-Sustaining System
When God created vegetation, He did not just make plants appear. He built in a mechanism for self-perpetuation. "The earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind."
The seed is embedded within the fruit. Future life is secured from the start. The creation was given the ability to reproduce itself. To adapt. To evolve. To learn.

This is not magic. This is design. It is a self-perpetuating system that showcases foresight, a world capable of ongoing maintenance without constant re-creation.
God does not need to intervene every moment. The system works without Him.
That is the lesson we have forgotten.

What This Means for Us
We have been building systems that do not work without us. Systems that collapse when we are not there to hold them up. Systems that depend on a single person, a single office, a single idea.

And then we wonder why everything falls apart.
But the creation story tells us something different. It tells us that systems can be built to last. They can be built to sustain themselves.

They can be built to evolve.
The Creator set it in motion and then rested. Not because He was tired. Because rest is part of the system. The creation was designed to continue without constant divine intervention.

What if we built systems like that? What if we built political systems that did not depend on virtuous leaders? What if we built economic systems that did not depend on a single industry? What if we built education systems that produced creators, not consumers?

The Systems We Build
The creation story is not a myth. It is a blueprint. A blueprint for building systems that can function in our absence. Systems that can sustain themselves. Systems that can evolve.

We have been reading it wrong. We have been using it to argue about how old the earth is. We have been using it to fight about whether evolution is true. We have been using it to justify our own prejudices.

We have not been using it to learn how to build.
The creation story is not about the past. It is about the future. It is about the systems we are building right now. The systems that will outlast us. The systems that will define the world our children inherit.

What are we building? Are we building systems that will collapse when we are gone? Or are we building systems that will continue to create, to adapt, to evolve, to sustain?

The systems we build will outlast us. What kind of world are we creating?