21 Nov 2013

The Botswana Defence Force (BDF) has continued to heed calls by government for all to assist in improving the lives of Batswana.

The commanding officer of the BDF’s Air defence regiment from Francistown, Lt Col Nicholas Motswagole said this at the official handover of a clinic facility in Jackalas I recently.

Lt Col Motswagole said the BDF held in high regard issues of health, particularly that an army officer with a compromised state of health would not fare well in the execution of their duties. Thus they found it fitting to extend the Jackalas I clinic in an effort to help the communities they served.

He observed that though initially they had wanted to build a house for a less-privileged member of the Jackalas I community, the absence of such an individual or family in the village had been a real blessing as it enabled them to embark on a project that would benefit the entire village.

Furthermore, Lt Col Motswagole said the project gave them an opportunity to play a meaningful role in helping government make strides towards realising the ideal of a healthy nation by the year 2016.

He also lauded some members of the private sector particularly those from Francistown for their contribution in making the project a success; saying without their positive role carrying out the project would have been an uphill struggle.

For her part, Ms Matilda Tema from the District Health Management Team of the North East District, expressed gratitude for the project. She said the additional three rooms, kitchen and toilet that the BDF had built, had already begun to pay great dividends in the delivery of health services to the Jackalas I community.

Before the construction of the additional structure, some child welfare services such as weighing were done in the open, while ante-natal services and ordinary consultations were offered from the same room, she added.

Ms Tema said the building donated by the BDF had afforded patients the much-needed privacy, something which previously could not be guaranteed.

Kgosi Tapson Jackalas also thanked the army for its gesture of benevolence, adding that what they had done was evidence of their resolve to play a role in helping Botswana to become a compassionate, just and caring nation by the year 2016. Ends