08 Sep 2016

Ms Tapologo Ditau (29) is among youth who have decided to up their lives by making use of every opportunity.

Ms Ditau of Kanye said in an interview that she survived through a tuckshop that she opened in her mother’s yard two months ago.

She studied for Diploma in Information Technology  at Gaborone Institute of Professional Studies. 

Upon completion in 2011, she got attachment at the Jwaneng Town Council for three months. 

“I will forever be grateful to the government for that opportunity” she said. Ms Ditau said when she completed her attachment she hoped for a job but nothing came forth. 

“After a year of looking for a job, I then landed a job at PNT internet café,” she said. 

At the internet café, she was able to apply her skills and gain experience. 

As fate would have it, Ms Ditau’s mother got ill beginning of 2016 and as such the mother needed close attention.

 “I personally thought that I could continue working and hire someone to take care of my mother but that failed” said Ms Ditau. She eventually quit her job at the internet café.

“When I quit my job, I had to think outside the box as to what I could do to earn a living” she said. 

The mother of three said she understood that being the first born, responsibility was automatically bestowed upon her to take care of her family. 

She said that was when the idea of opening a tuck shop came. 

She said a friend built a stall for her for free in her mother’s yard. 

“I thought it would be a good idea to have the tuck shop in the yard so I could take care of my mother” she said.

She said she bought commodities amounting to P1 000 to start selling. 

The stock included oranges, airtime, sweets, tinned beef among other things. Ms Ditau said the tuckshop did wonders for the family. 

“I make a living out of this tuck shop money” she said.  She said she opened her tuck shop around eight o’clock in the morning and closes at nine at night every day. 

She said though she had other plans to improve her life, she was grateful that she was able to feed her family and do other things with the money she earned from the tuckshop. 

Ms Ditau said some of the challenges she faced were stiff competition from other tuckshops in the same area. 

She said, however, that she had realised that one way to attract customers was to offer good service. 

“I think my advantage is that I close later than other people and give good service” she said.

Ms Ditau said unemployed graduates should not lose hope, but rather take advantage of poverty eradication programmes being offered by the government to start businesses and earn a living.

She indicated that her dream was to own an internet café and later on a boutique. 

She said she was confident that her dreams would come true because she lived in a country that provided a friendly environment for dreams such as hers. Ends