Dialogue explores the potential of Botho as a framework for healing the legacy and trauma of wars and colonialism, and advancing social justice and women’s equality
GOSEGO MOTSUMI
Award-winning Broadway and Hollywood actor Donald Molosi will share the stage with His Holiness The Dalai Lama at next month’s historic conference on Botho/Ubuntu in Gaborone.
The event will mark the first visit to Botswana by The Dalai Lama and is slated for 17-19 August 2017 in Gaborone. The conference will bring together speakers including human rights advocate Graca Machel and Former Vice President of Botswana, Dr Ponatshego Kedikilwe into conversation about the African worldview of Botho/Ubuntu.
Molosi will make a presentation to The Dalai Lama and then engage in a conversation with him in front of an audience. For his presentation, Molosi says he has chosen to advocate for the inclusion of African history in the African classroom as a gesture of Botho/Ubuntu to our forebears and the upcoming generation.
“A key trademark in my work on stage and in film has been the desire to commune with our past and to preserve it by teaching it in schools. I am honored that I will be in conversation with His Holiness The Dalai Lama about an issue that so many Batswana of my generation care so deeply about.”
Speaking to SABC News in Johannesburg, South Africa where held a press conference “Examining African values and healing practices in light of new scientific research on social connection and trauma, the Dialogue in Botswana explores the potential of Botho/Ubuntu as a framework for healing the legacy and trauma of wars and colonialism, and advancing social justice and women’s equality.”
Moreover, in March this year Molosi presented a highly anticipated talk at TEDx Gaborone about the same issue. In the talk, entitled “Dear Upright African,” Molosi lamented the absence of African material in African schools. He also shared his own experience of private school in Botswana without mentioning any school. The talk made him the target of many insults online from those who are of the view that African history is not important.
Commenting on the incident Molosi said, “I cannot speak about any one individual’s reactions especially if they are not presented in botho. What I can tell you is that when I advocate for African history to be taught in schools I am asking that we do botho to those who came before us. That is what I am focused on.”
The three-day conference will be livecast on many platforms including His Holiness The Dalai Lama’s own website www.dalailama.com. Tickets for the dialogue with the Dalai Lama start from P100 for ages 15 to 35 and for students with a valid ID.
The deadline for purchasing tickets either online or from Maitisong Box Office is July 31. “The deadline for purchasing tickets is to give us enough time for security clearance because obviuously the guests coming are high profile figures,” Molosi explains.