28 Apr 2021

About 15 boys of Bana Ba Letsatsi were treated to a Safari trip to Dinaka Camp on the edge of Central Kalahari Game Reserve from April 24 to 26.

The trip was sponsored by Ker and Downey Botswana (KDB), who are owners of Dinaka Camp and other three camps across the country.

Bana Ba Letsatsi offers a place of safety to orphans and vulnerable children in Maun.

In an interview, Bana Ba Letsatsi executive coordinator, Ms Taboka Rotsi said KDB was one of their main sponsors since 2008.

Ms Rotsi said the company had a guest donation initiative for Bana Ba Letsatsi, which covered the centre’s operations and provided a monthly contribution of P47 000 before the COVID-19 era.

Bana Ba Letsatsi class of 15 boys, she said, were out of school boys while some had never been to school as they were kept at cattle posts.

The centre aimed at assimilating the boys back to school to ensure that they wrote their Primary School Leaving Examinations.

The trip, she said, would help boost the children’s morale as they appreciated the beautiful experience of safari for leisure and conservation awareness.

“Some of the children do not have an opportunity to be just kids during holidays as they do hard labour, the trip is to pamper them as well as show them that people can live peacefully with wildlife,” she said.

The centre, she said, currently has a total of 155 students, 16 are at Bana Ba Letsatsi  Classroom while 35 young people aged 18 to 37 years are engaged in a youth development programme and some are at boarding schools and primary schools.

Bana Ba Letsatsi, she said, also had a girl empowerment and boys’ leadership programmes during school holidays.

In an interview with one of the boys regarding the safari experience, Godiraone Molathegi said he mostly loved the game drive as he got a chance to see lions and other wild animals.

Another boy, Joseph Kagiso said he loved the Bushman walk, especially the Basarwa way of making fire and wildlife,  especially seeing the Kori Bastard bird for the first time.

The KDB Company trainer, Mr Thuso Rasegojwa said the company chose Bana Ba Letsatsi  as a charitable organisation for their community social responsibility programme to help the vulnerable and less privileged children financially and also nurture them in different ways.

Mr Rasegojwa said KDB also realised that the children had interest in wildlife, hence the formation of a conservation club and taking them on a safari trip.

“We also give them career guidance not only in the tourism industry, but also teach them about life in general,” he said.

The safari trip, he said, was a life time experience for the children as they were treated like any other guests.

The children were taken on a game drive, viewed wildlife from a close point in a bunker and also appreciated the Basarwa culture of making fire and medicinal plants from KDB trackers, Mr Voter Tsoogoma and Mr Quma Xota at Dinaka Camp. ENDS