The Importance of Retreats

A recurring theme in several of my interviews with social workers and guidance counselors was the importance and value of retreats for OVCs, both for educational and psychosocial purposes. Here are some descriptions of retreats and the work that they have done:

“We normally hold workshops for them to teach them that they have rights, yes, but they also have responsibilities.  You have lost a parent, it is not the end of the world; you need to fit in and continue living in a society that you have been raised in.” –Social worker in Tlokweng, female

“From retreat camps they build bonds and relationships and from there they become friends and they are always together. It kind of helps to know that they were at a retreat camp with so and so, and they shared this, and are going through the same thing, so they feel comfortable with each other.” –Social worker in Mochudi, male

“There is a retreat meant for standard seven kids. After their standard seven, we take them for a retreat in natural places because we think that nature is close to healing. They lost their parents when they were young and now they are turning into adolescents, so we prepare them for that stage. They must now be prepared in terms of sexuality, alcohol and other [such] things.” She thinks it really helps: “This year is the third time we are taking these kids; after a year we make an evaluation. We visit their schools and see their behavior: we have found that a kid who has attended a retreat is well-behaved as compared to one who has not, because when [someone] loses a parent sometimes [he or she] becomes very angry and bitter. If we then go through this nature-based therapy we can release all those emotions, you cry out then you feel like a new person, ready to face life fresh. …Basically we are looking at standard seven kids only because we term them as being at a crossroads; they are transitioning from primary school to secondary school, to learn bigger things.” –Social worker in Tlokweng village, female. She reports that they also do grief counseling, and life skills training at the retreat (this is only in the Tlokweng district, and they take 30-40 kids).

“At times during the school vacation the social workers normally take them to different places such as Maun and Ghanzi as well as providing some sort of counseling about life.”  This is seen as helpful. –Guidance counselor in Mochudi, female