26 Aug 2014

Residents of Chanoga in the Ngamiland District are working hard towards reviving the spirit of self reliance, volunteerism and thwarting the dependency syndrome.

Residents intended to embark on three sustainable projects that aimed to uplift the living standards of the needy society at the land where the poverty eradication seminar was held.
 Projects to be undertaken included a cultural village, camp site and a horticultural project.

The land was allocated to the community recently after the village chief; Kgosi Oateng Setlhodi requested it from the government with an aim to start sustainable projects which could better the lives of women.

He said women were hard hit by poverty and hoped that they could use the land to start some income generating projects.
 In an interview, Kgosi Setlhodi, confirmed that they had three projects in the pipeline but the community was still struggling with finances to develop the 12 hectares.

He said they were making efforts to look for ways and means to be economically independent to sustain the future of the community and giving priority to the needy of the society.
 He said they were working jointly with the Ministry of Agriculture to finalise logistics as they intended to venture into a horticulture project. 


He said residents had some challenges tapping into other poverty eradication initiatives such as back yard gardening because of shortage of water hence they have now opted to venture into horticulture which would source water from the river.


Kgosi Setlhodi said preparations for the project are at an advanced stage as fencing of the land has been completed and “we are optimistic that it would start operation before the end of the year”.


He believes that it is a good project as it will address unemployment and many other economic issues in the village. He said the department of Social &Community Development would assist in identifying the beneficiaries.


Kgosi Setlhodi also appealed to the business community to provide financial assistance so that they could kick start the other remaining projects which could in the end, better the lives of the community.


He said the village trust is in the process of reviewing its constitution and they are currently working hand in hand with the Technical Advisory

Committee to iron out issues relating to the operation of trust.

He said they have been informed that Botswana Tourism Organisation has approved funds to pay consultants who would be engaged to review the constitution.


The trust has not been operating because the constitution is old. Kgosi Setlhodi said as soon as the constitution is reviewed, the trust would now start community development projects. 


He appreciated government’s efforts in rolling out more projects in areas where traces of abject poverty were visible. Ends