30 Aug 2018

Introduction of the donkey cart transportation in government schools has given business to many donkey cart owners in different parts of the country.  

Among the beneficiaries of the initiative is 30-year-old, Ms Boitumelo Modisane of Tloaneng in the outskirts of Gabane, who has been engaged by the government to transport pupils. 

Through the initiative, she transports 22 pupils of Tloaneng Primary School who stay far away from the school. 

She has also been able to break the stereotype of men being the only ones who use donkey carts as a mode of transport for different errands as it is thought to be labourous.  

Speaking in an interview, the mother of six, who is also a farmer, said life had never been easy for her as she was unemployed and spent most of her time at home taking care of her mother and children. 

Therefore, when she heard that the school was looking for someone to transport children, she immediately applied because she already had three donkeys and she was awarded the tender as she was the only one who had shown interest.

She said she picks the children up at 630 am for them to arrive at school on time and in the afternoon they leave the school at around 3pm.

Ms Modisane said she started her job, which was supposed to be a three-month contract last November, but when her contract elapsed, no one else showed interest, hence she was asked to continue. 

She said she could not stop smiling when she received her pay cheque every month, which had changed her life as she could now support her family. 

She said she had also bought five more donkeys to make them eight, to rotate them every week as she used four per trip.

Ms Modisane thanked the government for the initiative, saying it helped her graduate from poverty and she had also been able to buy goats, pay insurance premiums and open a savings account. 

She said she now planed to build a house for herself and her children.   

Tloaneng Primary School head , Ms Gagoitsiwe Marata has also applauded the initiative, saying it had eliminated late coming of children who stayed far away from the school.

She said with the right to education being a priority in Botswana, government came up with the initiative to ensure children in rural settlements attended school. Therefore, Ms Marata said the introduction of donkey cart transportation in primary schools had changed the lives of many children as they no longer missed classes and now arrived at school on time, which was good for their learning. 

She said even during harsh weather conditions, such as the rainy season, most children were able to attend lessons. 

She also expressed gratitude to Ms Modisane for working well with the school management, saying she had never disappointed them as she had not failed to transport the children on any day. 

Ms Marata said Ms Modisane was very respectful and loved children. ENDS