When Funding Dictates
BY Tumisang Ntheeletsang
A tobacco cessation counsellor sits at home.
Throughout the day she is full of hope—
Hope… yes, hope.
Hope for her fellow countrymen,
Hope for the youth in her motherland.
Yet funding says, “There is only little you can do.”
Creatives mourn the loss of superstars.
Economies are robbed of future exchanges.
Talent engraved, youth enslaved.
More need for rehabilitation centres—
Yet funding says, “There is only little you can do.”
Advocates are active,
Yet government is reactive.
Advocates plead, “There is more need for rehabilitation centres.”
Funding responds, “There is only little you can do.”
Advocacy plans are inclusive,
Yet funding remains selective.
The industry throws litigations;
Funding undermines mitigations.
Industry blocks regulations;
Addiction sweeps across nations.
Yet… yet…
Funding says, “There is only little you can do.”
Ms Tumisang Ntheeletsang is a tobacco control advocate based in Botswana
