23 Apr 2014

On April 22, exactly 30 days remained towards the much anticipated second African Youth Games (AYG) to be hosted in Botswana from May 22 and this sparked off an exciting countdown drive.

The countdown was launched with a joint celebration that saw the unveiling of Project 53, a component of the games legacy programme at Botswana National Youth Centre, popularly known as Kwa ga Mma Masire.

Project 53 entailed planting of 53 trees representing the 53 countries expected to converge on Botswana for the youth games. Delivering a keynote address, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture, Ruth Maphorisa, said the trees would continue remind Batswana of the games.

Maphorisa said the trees would become a natural documentation of hosting the African Youth Games in 2014 and add to the national heritage. “As the trees grow, so will the relationships we will forge with the 53 countries that will participate in the games,” she said.

She said Botswana might have never hosted games of the same magnitude before, but the games presented Botswana with an opportunity to make a mark in the international sporting landscape and shape the way the world viewed the country.

She said, economically, they anticipated that both formal and informal traders would get a boost during the 10-day game extravaganza because of the extra customers to sell to as well as forge and explore relations for external markets.

“Businesses such as hospitality and catering will increase their profits during the games looking at the large number of officials expected to visit the country,” she said.

Maphorisa said tree planting played a critical role in people’s lives from providing shade and maintaining the beauty of the environment to fruits and flowers that attract fauna.

The PS stated that as part of eco-tourism, tourists were going to visit the site in future to see the trees which were planted symbolically representing all the African countries participating in the 2nd AYG.

Botswana African Youth Games Organising Committee (BAYGOC) chief executive, Tuelo Serufho said it was normal that when countries hosted events of that magnitude they attached themselves to a certain project, which people would remember them for.

He said when the games ended, Botswana would have better infrastructure and equipment that would be a legacy left by the AYG.

Serufho said the games would attract youngsters from all over the continent including those from Botswana, adding that Project 53 would engage all the other youngsters in the country who will not form part of the competing athletes.

He stated that Project 53 had engaged 53 junior schools from 53 constituencies around the country to conduct a research on the history of the country they are representing. ENDS