Imelda Molokomme
Melda Mishodzi Molokomme (born 1942) is a feminist activist and community developer from Botswana, "well known for her active role in the gender agenda" [1]. Molokomme married at 17, and did not start her university degree until she was 42, and her daughter, Athaliah Molokomme, the country's Attorney General, was one of her lecturers. [2]
Quotes
[edit]- "Connect girls and inspire them for the future.
- there have been historical imbalances from the traditional socialisation of boys and girls under which the boy child was socialised to be more economically empowered.However, the pioneer gender activist warned against any attempts at tinkering with the status quo
- I want us not to quarrel with this culture, we must appreciate it because after all a nation without a culture is a lost nation
- society today should rather dissect the culture to examine whether it advantages or disadvantages the girl child. There is need to educate the girl child, and the right approach to this will nurture girls with the right self-esteem and resourcefulness, she said.
- For us to raise the girl child at the same level in rural and urban areas, we need to give them the chance to speak for themselves, to tell us what they need, their choices and what their visionary paths are
- Don't ignore the boy child - Molokome by Gothataone Moeng, March 01, 2012, Retrieved 19/11/2023
- I later asked my father why he chose to migrate with me of all his children and he told me he had seen that I was strong and would grow up to be even stronger
- When I came back home for my secondary school in Mochudi I was the only girl in a class of seven and fortunately or unfortunately I happened to be the most intelligent. This made me a subject of talk and ridicule by the boys who were somehow bitter that they were being overshadowed by a girl. It was then that I realized it was sometimes an issue to be a girl
- In terms of numbers we were almost equal but men had an upper hand and louder voices. It was like women didn’t exist. And since I was teaching in the rural areas I also interacted a lot with the local women where I realized that women were carrying more than enough on their shoulders
- In those days the gender agenda was still very foreign but since it was something within me when the time came to advance it, there was no turning back
- My strength also comes from the fact that I still want to work and share what I have with other people so we all can have better lives
- THE PILLAR OF THE MOLOKOMME POWERHOUSE,July 16, 2010,By Staff Reporter
