14 Apr 2019

The villages of Ramotswa and Kanye have been selected to host this year’s Peace Corps volunteers training.

The recruits will undergo two and half months training starting July 12 before being posted to other parts of the country.

Balete’s Kgosi Mosadi Seboko declared in a recent meeting that the village was ready for the task, which she said had eluded them for many years.

She said the village had much to offer the trainees.

Kgosi Seboko cautioned Ramotswa residents not to shy away from accommodating the volunteers, pointing out that they would not be coming to Botswana for a fancy lifestyle.

Instead, she said, the volunteers would be expected to conform to the lifestyle of Balete.

Peace Corps language and cross cultural coordinator Mr Meshack Kgabanayane said his office would be working hand in hand with village development committees as well as bogosi to find accommodation for the volunteers. Mr Kgabanyane said Ramotswa would be home to 30 volunteers while 50 would be hosted by Kanye.

He said the numbers would give the village an opportunity to gauge its ability to host more volunteers in the future as this would be the first time Ramotswa would be hosting volunteers’ training.

Mr Kgabanyane said the volunteers would focus in the area of HIV/AIDS and would therefore work with the district AIDS coordinator, health management team and South East District Council.

He appealed to resident to offer accommodation to the volunteers during the envisaged training.

Commenting, some Ramotswa residents said they expected the volunteers to observe traditional norms.

For her part, South East District commissioner, Ms Sebokwana Dikgope urged residents to be true ambassadors of the village and the country during the hosting period.

She expressed delight that Ramotswa had been selected to host after being overlooked for many years. ENDS