28 Aug 2022

This year’s Mascom Batanani Charity Walk has focused on giving support to Francistown Centre for the Deaf. 

The walk, which catered for all ages, allowed one to walk either 5, 10 or 15 kilometres wherever they were or by joining other enthusiasts at the Francistown old Stadium on Saturday.

The five-kilometre chief walker, Justice Lot Moroka, hailed Mascom for consistently living up to the promise of making a difference in the lives of Batswana.

 “Despite the hurdles that the COVID-19 pandemic brought, Mascom Wireless has remained stern in its commitment to Batswana by allowing them to walk virtually across the country, in their homes, on treadmills, at their preferred gyms and around their communities,” he said.

He said since inception of the walk, the Francistown community had not only been home to the Mascom Batanani Charity Walk, but it had also been a big beneficiary of the walk as all NGOs that benefitted from the walk were based in Francistown.

He was happy that this year’s beneficiary was Francistown Centre for the Deaf,  a school with a student population of 106  from around the country and 55 teachers including support staff.

“I am not only proud of the work that the centre does for the deaf community, but I am also humbled by the spirit of everyone who saw it fit to join us in walking to support,” he said.

Justice Moroka also added that Mascom had supported the Francistown community through other various initiatives that encouraged economic activity amongst SMMEs.

For her part, Mascom CEO, Ms Dzene Makhwade-Seboni said the walk was aimed at supporting the deaf communities.

She said it had become evident that the deaf were one of the least reached communities as there was limited knowledge on how to communicate and interact with them.

Ms Makhwade-Seboni noted that this year’s edition of the Batanani Charity Walk was a way of contributing toward building a world without barriers for the deaf.

“Our participation is not only in highlighting some of the challenges faced by disadvantaged groups, but also doing so in solidarity with the communities we operate in,” she said.

Since its inception in 2019, she said, the charity walk had donated proceeds from registration towards addressing and sensitising the nation on issues of gender-based violence, mental health and protecting children, adding every year they identified an organisation that was committed to addressing key societal issues.

One of the walkers, Ms Boipelo Montshiwa, who was participating for the first time said following a break from activities due to COVID-19, events of this nature were important to keep the body healthy at the same time raising funds for a good course. ENDS