The 4x4 Initiative engaged boys between the ages of 12 and 21 about their role in society, aiming to educate them on values, encourage them to speak up, manage conflict, and gain communication skills.
The initiative seeks to nurture boys into responsible men, with the founder, Sidney Boois, stating that it aims to uplift the spirit of ubuntu amongst men and reduce gender-based violence in the country.
Life skills teacher Pedro Kapirika says society has been so focused on uplifting the girl child that the boy child is left feeling neglected.
The teacher from Jacob Marengo visited Rundu in an effort to uplift some boys.
There was a time when the focus was solely on men.
This led to women and girl empowerment initiatives all over, but the end result is that the boychild is now feeling left out, says Kapirika.
Society places expectations on boys to be invulnerable, demonstrate strength, be self-sufficient, and, when faced with adversity, control their emotions and solve their problems alone.
Varying from these norms, for example, by seeking help, can be regarded as a form of weakness or "failing to be a 'real man."
A Global Boys Summit scheduled to take place in Casablanca, Morocco, seeks to address these expectations from the boy child and tell them it is okay to show emotions, among others.
Under-achievement and under-participation of boys in education have become a national concern and stakeholders are actively exploring ways to support the boy child.
A two-day colloquium was initiated by the University of Namibia (UNAM), to look into the topic.
The colloquium aims to find solutions to improve general academic achievement among boys and establish the causes of academic differences between male and female learners.
