Ready to write his-story
Sethunya Okie is a young rising author who recently launched a children’s book titled Sir Seretse Khama.
The book is about the life of the founding President of Botswana Seretse Khama and his family.
The 9-year-old daughter of Kesego Okie and Thabo Okie from Thamaga is a standard four pupil at Broadhurst Primary School.
Our Reporter PORTIA MLILO had a chat with Sethunya about her new book, target audience and its objective.
Q. What impact do you think the book will have? The book intends to teach young people about the history of the founding father, Sir Seretse Khama.
It is important for children to learn about the history of Botswana at a young age hence the need to archive it.
It empowers them to broaden their thinking.
Q. Who are your target audience?
The book is recommended for anyone who can read but my target audience is young people of between 3 and 10 years.
The book has pictures and kids who are still learning to read would enjoy looking at the pictures while their parents read for them explaining until they reach a certain age where they can read and understand.
The pictures are what every chapter is all about.
If it is about family, there is a picture of the first president, his wife and kids.
Q. What inspired you to write a book?
I figured out that not many children are taught about the founding president on Sir Seretse Khama day.
It is just a holiday with no celebrations.
I decided to write a book for kiddies so that they can learn about his life, where he came from, who he married, his children and what he did as the president.
I want them to know more, not just about him alone.
Q. How did you start writing this book, take our readers through the process?
It was during Sir Seretse Khama day last year, I borrowed my mother’s laptop and did a little bit of research about him and made a PowerPoint presentation.
The intention was just to make a presentation to my mother, just for fun.
She sat there listening to my presentation and she was impressed and suggested I write a book.
That was how I started with her support until the book was published.
Q. How did you source the information?
I just searched on Google, who is Seretse Khama and it showed his pictures and his biography.
Who did he marry, the information I got was he was married to Ruth Williams who then became Lady Ruth Khama and they had four kids.
Their first son Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama followed in his father’s footsteps and became the fourth president of Botswana.
Q. Which part of the book do you enjoy most?
It is on what Lady Khama was doing.
I found out she was passionate about charity work and loved kids.
She helped less privileged children and I feel the information is relevant as the book is for kids.
Q. How did you feel about publishing a book?
I’m very excited and proud of myself.
This is like a dream come true.
My teachers and classmates at school are also happy for me.
Q. I understand your parents assisted you to seek permission from Seretse Khama’s children before writing the book and they agreed to that, how did you feel about it?
I am really thankful because if they did not give me permission, I wouldn’t have written the book.
Thank you to the Khamas for supporting my dream.
I would also like to thank Marcus Ter Haar for attending my book launch on behalf of his family.
Q. Through this journey of research, penning down a book until it was published, what kind of support did you get from your parents?
I got immense support from my Mom and Dad.
I would like to thank them for their support and nurturing my talent.
They provided funds for the illustrator and print so I’m grateful for that.
I thought the book wouldn’t have pictures and I was surprised that my Mom engaged an illustrator to do picture drawing.
I think it also makes the book more appealing and attractive for kids.
Q. What kind of challenges did you face when writing this book?
Not that there were any challenges.
I knew a little about him so it was not that difficult.
I think the challenge I had was arranging chapters and deciding what comes first, what should be in the middle and what to conclude with.
Through the support of my Mom because she is also an author, I managed.
Q. What opportunities do you think are there for young authors?
I don’t think we have many young authors.
Probably I am the first to publish a book at 9.
I think that on its own will trigger the interest for kids to read because most of us don’t love reading.
We are much into watching television, playing online games and social media.
We need to have more young authors because they are this country’s future leaders.
Q. Where can one buy this book and how much does it cost?
The book is sold at P150 and people can call my Mom Kesego Okie for orders.
She is also working on creating a social media account about the book where people can contact her.
I think soon people will be able to buy it online.
Hopefully it will hit the shelves soon and also the national library.
My wish is that primary schools both government and private, buy it for pupils to read in their libraries.
Q. When did you discover your talent?
I love reading and writing.
I love our Setswana culture and history.
My Mom encouraged me to write this book because she knows I love reading.
She also said there are not many books for children that teach us about the history of our beautiful country.
Q. What are your future plans?
The plan is to write books on all Botswana presidents.
Next I will be publishing one on the second president.
I would love to meet the third president Dr Festus Mogae and the current Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi so that I can profile them and write books about them.
Q. Who is your inspiration?
My Mom. She is a hard worker.
She does a lot of things and I always ask myself how she manages to do al that she does.
My Mom is a journalist and a publisher too so I draw a lot of inspiration from her.
I really wouldn’t have done much without her support.
Q. What advice can you give to young people aspiring to be authors?
Just be dedicated, committed and passionate about reading and writing.
Also be patient because you might have more information from your research but putting it together to make a book can be a challenge but don’t give up.
They need to believe in themselves too.
Q. Thank God it is Friday, what are your plans for the weekend?
I am looking forward to getting more interviews with different media houses about my book.
Hopefully it will inspire other young people to write books especially on history.
