16 Apr 2018

It is not strange for someone to come out of waywardness to become a successful businessperson, sportsman or something admirable. 

Some people have taken curves from drunkenness and drug abuse to become responsible citizens.

Mr Morekolodi Disang (31) who hails from Majwaneng in the Lerala/Maunatlala constituency is one such young man who found out late that there is no future in alcohol and drug abuse.

He was expelled from school for alcohol and drug abuse when doing Form two.

Armed only with Primary School Leaving Examination qualification, Disang did not fold his arms to wait for some miracles to happen. 

In 2010 he founded Media 87 Videography and Photography Company to try his niche in film production and photography.

He was fortunate enough to find a job as a freelancer at two companies of Baboneng Filming and Photography Company and Studio 24 Filming Company to boost his savings and experience. His education background did not deter him as he kept on facing the challenges head on with the ultimate aim of succeeding in his business

After sometime and with some experience he said he successfully applied for the Youth Development Fund (YDF) in 2014 and was financed to the tune of P100 000. With the amount he bought advanced equipment which included three cameras and their tripods, copier, a desktop computer, iMac laptop and soft wares.

Mr Disang did not waste time as the same year he started shooting video clips and some companies awarded him some projects to do commercial adverts for them. With the money he got, life started changing for the better, he managed to put food on the table, sustain the business and paid all those who helped him on the tasks assigned.

“Before YDF financial assistance, I was hiring some video shooting equipment from friends and other businesses of the same line of work to shoot videos and photographs for weddings, parties, bridal and baby showers,” he said.

With the availability of appropriate shooting kit and other equipment, Media 87 has started video shooting a drama series of 13 episode by the name Tagi which he envisages to be aired on Botswana Television upon its completion.

“The drama series Tagi which simply means a drug in English, its script was written by me with the help from other relevant stakeholders, and the drama will go a long way in sensitising people about the effects of alcohol and drugs abuse,” he said. The focus of the episode is to emphasise on the negative effects of selling alcohol and drugs to students, domestic violence, child abuse and rape.

Like any other business, Mr Disang explains that his business has its own challenges and obstacles, saying as the business grows and more opportunities emerge, it sometimes requires equipment of a higher quality, expensive, sophisticated tools and soft wares to meet the requirements and specifications requested by clients.

“Our country also does not have dealers of all high quality filming and photography equipment to produce some works of complex magnitude, therefore we have to purchase online from China and Japan which is not a reliable method of buying,” he added. ENDS