AMB Dr. Ophadile T. Gofhamodimo on empowering Botswana’s next generation of writers

By Kristina Gashi

Kristina: You are a poet, author, global speaker, and founder of both The Urge Promotions and Young Voices Big Dreams (YVBD). Could you tell us about these initiatives, what inspired you to establish them, and how they support your wider mission?

That belief began in my classroom. My teachers inspired me to write with confidence. Whenever I wrote a story or composition, they read my work aloud to the class. Hearing my words in front of my peers showed me that my voice mattered, and it also inspired other learners to find theirs. That experience grew into a lifelong passion for writing, and it is the root of both of my initiatives.

The Urge Promotions began on 2 September 2022 as a creative and literary platform that gives writers, artists and storytellers visibility and a way to turn their talent into impact. Our first partnership was with MVisionaries Leading Publishers in South Africa, and it has shaped how we work: through collaboration, not in isolation.

Young Voices Big Dreams (YVBD) is our youth literacy and personal development initiative, and the Botswana launch of South Africa’s Young Authors Project, which has already seen 70 young writers published. My teachers gave me a stage, and YVBD is how I pass that gift on. We take motivational talks, writing workshops, reading sessions, and emotional wellness support into primary schools, working with Standard 5 and 6 learners. Selected learners are supported to publish their first book. We have also hosted poetry competitions and are developing The Journey to the Beginning: Poetry ya Motswana, an anthology celebrating Botswana’s poetic voice.

Together, these initiatives serve my wider mission of empowering young people through literacy, mental health awareness and personal growth. Poetry gave me the language to heal, through Poetry From Within and Whispers To Heal, and I want children to have that language early. A child who is heard believes in their future, and that belief is where leadership, resilience and employability begin.

Through global platforms and partnerships, I carry this mission beyond Botswana, so that young African voices are heard, published and celebrated.

Kristina: Through YVBD, you work to encourage youth literacy and give young people opportunities to engage with stories. Why is it important for young people to have access to literature and spaces where they can express their own voices?

Equally important are spaces where young people can express their own voices. I know from my own journey what it means to be heard. When my teachers read my stories aloud in class, it showed me that my words had value, and that confidence stayed with me for life. Many children never get that moment. Without it, they may grow up believing their stories are not worth telling.

Expression also protects wellbeing. Writing gives young people a safe way to process emotions, build self-awareness, and speak about what they are carrying. This is why mental health awareness is woven into everything we do at YVBD. A child who can name their feelings and tell their story is better equipped to face life’s challenges.

Internationally, literacy opens doors. Strong reading and writing skills improve academic performance, communication and, later, employability. This is a perspective I carried into hosting

International Literacy Day, organized by World Education Policy (WEP), on 8 September 2026, where we celebrated literacy as a tool for empowerment and opportunity. When we help a learner publish their first book, we are also building a young person who believes they can create, lead and contribute to their community. When we invest in young people’s voices, we invest in the future of our nations.

Kristina: Your poem series “A Broken Past, Piece By Piece” explores healing, resilience, and rebuilding after pain. What inspired you to explore these themes through poetry, and what do you hope leaders take away from the series?

I wrote “A Broken Past, Piece By Piece” because healing is rarely a single moment. It happens slowly, one piece at a time. Poetry has always been the space where I make sense of pain, and I wanted to show that rebuilding is not about pretending the past never happened. It is about gathering what was broken and choosing, piece by piece, to move forward. This also reflects my work as a mental health advocate. In my conversations with young people, women, and leaders, I have seen how many people carry silent struggles, believing they must be strong and keep going without ever pausing to heal. Poetry gives pain a voice, and when pain has a voice, it loses some of its power over us. That same belief shaped my other works, such as “Whispers To Heal”, “Soft Lessons In A Loud World”, and “Poetry From Within”. 

I chose to share it as a spoken piece, in my own voice, because healing is more powerful when it is heard. A poem carried by voice and emotion can reach people in a way that explanation alone cannot.

My hope is that readers and listeners take away three things:

• They are not alone. Someone else has felt what they feel.

• Healing is a process, not a deadline. There is no wrong pace, and every small step counts.

• A broken past does not define the future. What once broke us can become the foundation of our strength.

If even one person reads or hears this series and feels permission to begin healing, then it has done its work.

Kristina: Alongside your literary work, you are involved in youth engagement and development initiatives in Botswana and beyond. How do you see literature and creative expression contributing to young people’s growth, confidence, and opportunities?

I see literature and creative expression as one of the most powerful and most underused tools for youth development. They contribute in three connected ways: growth, confidence and opportunity.

Growth: Reading and writing train young people to think critically, organize their ideas and understand perspectives different from their own. Creative expression also builds emotional

intelligence. A young person who can put feelings into words is better able to manage them, and

that is why I weave mental health awareness and personal development into our literacy work at

YVBD.

Confidence: Confidence often begins with being heard. My own journey started in a classroom where my teachers read my stories aloud, and that moment changed how I saw myself. In our school programme, learners in Standard 5 and 6 receive motivational talks, writing workshops and reading sessions, and selected learners are supported to publish their first book. When a child holds a book with their own name on it, they are no longer just a learner. They are an author, and that identity changes how they walk into every room.

Opportunity: Creative skills are life skills. Writing, storytelling and public speaking strengthen communication, leadership and employability, which are qualities every sector needs. Publishing platforms, such as the magazine I edit for Botswana, give young writers real visibility, and partnerships across Africa and globally connect them to networks they might otherwise never reach.

In Botswana and beyond, my goal is to make sure no young person’s talent goes unseen because of where they come from. Literature opens the door, creative expression builds the courage to walk through it, and opportunity is what waits on the other side.

Kristina: This year’s #ReadingAfrica theme, “Crossing Pages, Crossing Borders: An Exploration into the Movement of People, Stories, and Ideas,” celebrates the ways stories connect us across communities and cultures. What stories or perspectives from your community do you hope to bring to a wider audience, and what do you hope readers around the world will learn from them?

I hope to bring the voices of Botswana to a wider audience: young learners, first-time authors, poets and artists whose stories rarely travel beyond our borders. Through Instinctively Beyond Botswana, I profile these voices, and through our anthology (The Journey to the Beginning: Poetry ya Motswana), I celebrate poetry rooted in Setswana and English, our proverbs and our way of seeing the world. 

I also want to share the stories of the young learners in YVBD, who are becoming published authors and showing that African children are not only subjects of other people’s stories but authors of their own.

I hope readers around the world learn that Botswana’s story is bigger than its headlines, that the values of botho and Ubuntu remind us we grow best when we lift one another, and that stories are bridges. When a poem from Botswana is read in another country, a border is crossed, and that is the heart of Crossing Pages, Crossing Borders.

Kristina: Looking ahead, what are your hopes for The Urge Promotions and Young Voices Big Dreams, and what opportunities would you like to see created for the next generation of African writers and storytellers?

Looking ahead, my hope is to grow The Urge Promotions and Young Voices Big Dreams into a pan-African movement for young writers and storytellers. For YVBD, that means taking our school-based programme to primary schools across Africa, supporting ten learners per school to publish their first book, and extending our reach through online workshops. For The Urge Promotions, it means building a platform that connects African creatives to publishers, media, mentors and global audiences.

My leadership roles will help make this possible. As Global Deputy General Secretary Director for Botswana and South Africa at the Climazon Global Development Initiative (CGDI), I work with a global network focused on sustainable development and youth empowerment. That opens doors to partnerships, funding opportunities, and platforms that can carry YVBD across borders. As Country Director for Botswana at the World Alliance of School Principals (WASP), I connect directly with school leaders who can bring our literacy and wellbeing programmes into classrooms, and I can help ensure these programmes meet real educational needs.

For the next generation of African writers, I want to see four opportunities created: access to publishing, mentorship, platforms for visibility, and support for emotional wellbeing. With partners and school leaders working together, I believe these can become reality.

AMB Dr. Ophadile T. Gofhamodimo is a global speaker, mentor, and advocate for mental health and youth empowerment based in Botswana. Her career has been dedicated to turning young voices into active participants — not passive subjects — of diplomacy and development.

She serves as Global Deputy General Secretary Director for Botswana and South Africa at the Climazon Global Development Initiative (CGDI), CGDI’s Global Ambassador for Botswana and Southern Africa for 2026/27, and Global Ambassador for Botswana at Cognisynth (2026). She is the founder of The Urge Promotions and Young Voices Big Dreams (YVBD), platforms she built from the ground up to champion youth-centered diplomacy and position mental health and youth empowerment as cross-border priorities. As editor of Instinctively Beyond Magazine — Botswana Edition, she uses storytelling as a form of soft power to humanize diplomacy for ordinary people.

Her leadership has earned wide recognition, including a place among Africa’s Top 30 Leading Women 2025 (Crest Africa) and the 100 Reputable Women of African Descent 2026 (Africa Women Summit). She was named one of the Top 5 African Leadership Voices in the CEO Global Review 2026 Global Leadership Awards, was awarded the Certificate of World Builder Award 2026 by World Education Policy WEP, the Commemorative Recognition Award for Superwoman of the Year by Mahila Udyami and Kartikey Foundation, and received the Novarchic Meridian Review’s 2026 recognition as a Distinguished African Leader Advancing Global Leadership, Youth Empowerment, Literary Advocacy, and International Cooperation. Additional honors include the Nelson Mandela Inspiration Award 2026, the Guru Ratna 2026 National and Global Educators Excellence Award, the Cognisynth Medal of Institutional Merit Award 2026, the Mahatma Gandhi Global Peace and Humanity Award 2026, and finalist status in the SADC Keturah Mental Health Awards 2026.

An award-winning poet and author, she was crowned Best Poet for Poetry From Within at the 5th OPHIR Awards for Writers 2025 in the Philippines. She has authored three books — Poetry From Within (2025), Whispers To Heal: 7 Days of Poetry and Self-Coaching Prompts, and Soft Lessons In A Loud World: A Substack Series on Mental Health, Rest and Becoming Human Again (2026), and has been featured in nearly ten international anthologies, including the Global Anthology Mandeep Part 4, representing writers from 140 countries.

Her affiliations span the International Internship University (IIU) Global Trainers Network, the World Alliance of School Principals (WASP) as a Global Director for Botswana, the TAPN2U Global Peace Movement as a Peace Partner. Through spoken word, published booklets, and purpose-driven action, AMB Dr. Gofhamodimo continues to redefine what it means to heal, lead, and inspire.