Support Caregivers to Save Lives in Botswana

In the past quarter, we've been working hard behind the scenes to set up a shared psychological support service for frontline staff across three of our partner organizations here in northern Botswana--Bana Ba Letsatsi, Polokong Elderly Care Center, and Women Against Rape.

If you work on the ground with vulnerable communities, you already know how incredibly rewarding—but also how emotionally exhausting—this work can be. Our teams pour so much of themselves into helping others, and we want to make sure they are being poured back into. The big picture goal here is simple: by taking better care of our staff’s mental health, we’re building a stronger, healthier, and more sustainable foundation for the communities we serve.

Right now, we are actively hustling to lock in the remaining resources we need to get this off the ground.  As soon as the funding is fully secured, our very first step will be to hire a qualified psychologist and officially launch the service. 

We are proud of how these organizations are teaming up to prioritize mental health. It’s a huge reminder that we can’t deliver high-quality support to our beneficiaries if we aren't supporting each other first.

This report provides an update on the project to establish shared psychological support for frontline staff across three organizations serving vulnerable communities in northern Botswana. The project is currently in the planning and resource mobilization stage.

Initial consultations have been held with all three partner organizations to confirm commitment and clarify needs. Key stressors faced by staff—including exposure to trauma, high emotional demands, and burnout—have been identified. A draft scope of work for a shared psychologist has been developed, outlining individual counseling, group debriefing sessions, and trauma-informed supervision. Preliminary coordination arrangements and budget reviews have also been completed.

Implementation will commence once ongoing fundraising efforts are successful and sufficient resources are secured to engage a qualified psychologist.

All partners remain committed to the initiative and recognize the importance of investing in caregiver well-being to strengthen service quality and long-term sustainability.