02 Mar 2016

North East District’s long awaited Ntimbale Challenge has come and gone.

The festival, which was the first of its kin, was held in Masingwaneng on Saturday February 27 at Ntimbale Dam, attracting people from all over to see activities of the day.

Activities included motorbike competitions, hill climbing, swimming, various types of Kalanga dances and even entertainment by Polka groups and Seperu dances from Kgalagadi and Chobe respectively.

As expected, small businesses also did not want to miss out on the opportunity as they put to good use the chance they were given by organisers to set up stalls and display their wares and generate income from the event. 

One Kedibonye Majere, who came all the way from Francistown, said when she heard about the festival she decided to bring her business to Masingwaneng.

Her stall was appealing and she was selling cooked food, dried phane and fruits. 

She said she was happy that they were invited as small businesses to be part of the event so that they could make money and have fun owing to a variety of activities on the day.

She said she was hopeful that next year the event would have grown because they would like to come again and do business. She was grateful for the day and all the networking.

Kebifetswe Modikwa, a resident of Masingwaneng, expressed joy that finally Ntimbale would be written about since a lot of people would now know about it because it was receiving the recognition it deserved.

Modikwa, who said she was overwhelmed by the turn-up, said it showed that the message was passed on well.

She said people would become aware of their culture and was happy to see some from other cultures also participating.

Ms Modikwa was also positive that the festival would instil the spirit of unity among the people of Masingwaneng and other seven villages surrounding the Ntimbale Dam, who they partnered with in making the day a success.

However, she believed that they could have done better if residents of all the eight villages had put more effort.

She said people still needed motivation and encouragement to come and participate in community building events.

She was also hopeful that next year the festival would have moved to a higher level.

Ms Cecilia Matenge from Matenge, who was also part of the organising committee, talked highly of the event, saying she was happy since it was a tourist attraction they could benefit from.

She emphasised the need for people, especially the youth, to use the dam site to their own advantage.

She said the event would help open doors for anyone who would like to partner with the Ntimbale Challenge organisers to take it to another level.

However, she lamented some challenges they encountered in planning the event, includeding insufficient funds.

Nevertheless, she was happy that they managed with the little they had, since the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture together with the Chinese Embassy helped them with funding.

Like others, she was also hopeful that next year the event would be bigger and better as people would now know about the Ntimbale Challenge. 

She also hailed the event as a good initiative since all the profit generated would be divided among the eight villages surrounding the Ntimbale Dam for community development. Ends