Falcon
10-13-2007, 02:03 PM
Botswana students bullied in ****************************
*********** ************
STAFF WRITER
........a group of Botswana ************** students at the ***************** are finding out the real *************. The students who stay in an all-male hostel known as *************** have been getting what they call 'military' treatment at the hands of a 'rowdy, rough and sadist mob' of senior students.
"When I first arrived here it never dawned on me that it would be here that I would hit the ground with my chest, my hands held backwards. I had to roll over in mud. I have been interrogated late into the night. I have had buckets of water poured over my face," says a student who arrived in ************ a few weeks ago.
The students arrived in Washington DC on August 21 and after two days and two nights of briefing by Botswana embassy staff they left for ***************** on the 24th. Upon arrival the males were separated from the females for accommodation purposes. The students spent the first few days attending orientation organised by the university. Starting on the August 27 senior students started arriving at the university. "It was then that trouble started. The first night they arrived they came down banging on doors asking us to open. When we opened they took us out, undressed us to our briefs and started an interrogation," says another student.
The treatment ran through a routine like this; at 7pm the 'big boys' come to the door of the new students and take them out to the bushes. There the new boys are asked to strip to their briefs or underwear. They are then given buckets to fetch water. And then they are made to wade through ponds of mud. Every now and then someone would yell, 'roll' and the new boys would have to roll over in the mud. At intervals interrogations would be done.
"During that interrogation, they ask you questions about yourself. They mock you. And at the end, they call you a name which you are supposed to start replying to from then on," says another student.
At around 2am it is time to go to the hill located a few kilometres from the hostel. The new students are made to run up and down the hill, sometimes with their underwear worn on their heads.
It would seem the whole objective of this exercise is to humiliate the new students. "You are not done until the next morning at around 4.30am," says the student.
Some have attempted to abscond while others cannot bear the repercussions. "If you abscond and refuse to open the door at night, they make sure you get punished. They pour water into your room, wetting everything," says another student.
By yesterday, the students indicated that nothing had been done even though they had informed one of the senior members of the student body at the university
An officer at the Botswana embassy in Washington, under which the ********* falls, said that he was not aware of the treatment. "You have to understand that the students are young people. They may get overly sensitive. Furthermore they have not followed the right procedure of lodging their complaints. I should not have to hear of this from a journalist but rather from the students themselves," the officer said. He added that the students have been given numbers to the embassy in case they had something to complain about. He promised he would investigate the allegations and forward his findings to the Ministry of Education headquarters in Gaborone.
A ministry official has said they are not aware of the alleged bullying in ************. "I am not aware of those occurrences. It would be unfortunate if that really happened to our students. However we usually use our diplomatic missions to inform us of any such cases. As of now, we have not had any communication from the Washington mission about the issue," explained the assistant public relations officer in the ministry *******************.
A senior Motswana student, Changi Baikai said that it is true that *********** is infamous for the ill treatment of new students. "In 2003, the first Batswana group who were accommodated there had to move out because of abuse at the hands of senior students. We have made complaints to the university but so far nothing substantial has happened," added Baikai.
When contacted earlier the Director of Student Services at the ************ said that she has not been informed of the ill-treatment of Batswana students. "We know that the university has the normal orientation for the students. After that, a committee of students in the hostel organises their own series of orientations. We do not know what that orientation entails," explained ********.
However *******, administration officer in the dean's office, indicated that the university has been informed of the matter. "We know of the problem. In fact many times we have had to move students out of the hostel because of this abuse. This is a system popular among ************ students. It is called 'hazing'. Senior students give the new students this treatment. We are completely against it," explained *********.
He revealed that because the situation is getting out of hand, the university is planning to evacuate the new students to another hostel sometime today.
So far the ************** the young Batswana have come to know is of mud, water and midnight naked runs up the hills. Perhaps the new plans may offer a different one.
The above article was from an African News Source.
Guess the country in which this treatment occured.
*********** ************
STAFF WRITER
........a group of Botswana ************** students at the ***************** are finding out the real *************. The students who stay in an all-male hostel known as *************** have been getting what they call 'military' treatment at the hands of a 'rowdy, rough and sadist mob' of senior students.
"When I first arrived here it never dawned on me that it would be here that I would hit the ground with my chest, my hands held backwards. I had to roll over in mud. I have been interrogated late into the night. I have had buckets of water poured over my face," says a student who arrived in ************ a few weeks ago.
The students arrived in Washington DC on August 21 and after two days and two nights of briefing by Botswana embassy staff they left for ***************** on the 24th. Upon arrival the males were separated from the females for accommodation purposes. The students spent the first few days attending orientation organised by the university. Starting on the August 27 senior students started arriving at the university. "It was then that trouble started. The first night they arrived they came down banging on doors asking us to open. When we opened they took us out, undressed us to our briefs and started an interrogation," says another student.
The treatment ran through a routine like this; at 7pm the 'big boys' come to the door of the new students and take them out to the bushes. There the new boys are asked to strip to their briefs or underwear. They are then given buckets to fetch water. And then they are made to wade through ponds of mud. Every now and then someone would yell, 'roll' and the new boys would have to roll over in the mud. At intervals interrogations would be done.
"During that interrogation, they ask you questions about yourself. They mock you. And at the end, they call you a name which you are supposed to start replying to from then on," says another student.
At around 2am it is time to go to the hill located a few kilometres from the hostel. The new students are made to run up and down the hill, sometimes with their underwear worn on their heads.
It would seem the whole objective of this exercise is to humiliate the new students. "You are not done until the next morning at around 4.30am," says the student.
Some have attempted to abscond while others cannot bear the repercussions. "If you abscond and refuse to open the door at night, they make sure you get punished. They pour water into your room, wetting everything," says another student.
By yesterday, the students indicated that nothing had been done even though they had informed one of the senior members of the student body at the university
An officer at the Botswana embassy in Washington, under which the ********* falls, said that he was not aware of the treatment. "You have to understand that the students are young people. They may get overly sensitive. Furthermore they have not followed the right procedure of lodging their complaints. I should not have to hear of this from a journalist but rather from the students themselves," the officer said. He added that the students have been given numbers to the embassy in case they had something to complain about. He promised he would investigate the allegations and forward his findings to the Ministry of Education headquarters in Gaborone.
A ministry official has said they are not aware of the alleged bullying in ************. "I am not aware of those occurrences. It would be unfortunate if that really happened to our students. However we usually use our diplomatic missions to inform us of any such cases. As of now, we have not had any communication from the Washington mission about the issue," explained the assistant public relations officer in the ministry *******************.
A senior Motswana student, Changi Baikai said that it is true that *********** is infamous for the ill treatment of new students. "In 2003, the first Batswana group who were accommodated there had to move out because of abuse at the hands of senior students. We have made complaints to the university but so far nothing substantial has happened," added Baikai.
When contacted earlier the Director of Student Services at the ************ said that she has not been informed of the ill-treatment of Batswana students. "We know that the university has the normal orientation for the students. After that, a committee of students in the hostel organises their own series of orientations. We do not know what that orientation entails," explained ********.
However *******, administration officer in the dean's office, indicated that the university has been informed of the matter. "We know of the problem. In fact many times we have had to move students out of the hostel because of this abuse. This is a system popular among ************ students. It is called 'hazing'. Senior students give the new students this treatment. We are completely against it," explained *********.
He revealed that because the situation is getting out of hand, the university is planning to evacuate the new students to another hostel sometime today.
So far the ************** the young Batswana have come to know is of mud, water and midnight naked runs up the hills. Perhaps the new plans may offer a different one.
The above article was from an African News Source.
Guess the country in which this treatment occured.