03 Sep 2026

It began with a Facebook post. It ended with a community rolling up its sleeves.

Early this year, pictures of a boarding school in a sorry state circulated on social media, attracting a flood of comments. 

For Boteti residents, however, the pictures prompted a more personal question, what about Rakops Junior Secondary School?

They went to find out. What they found was far from comforting. Rakops JSS, which serves about 920 learners, including 333 boarders, from Rakops and the neighbouring villages of Xere, Mmadikola, Xumo and Toromoja, was crying out for attention.

Hostels, classrooms and ablution facilities were in poor condition, while teachers’ accommodation had also not been spared.

But for a community where many families live on modest incomes, waiting for someone else to solve the problem was not an option.

Instead, residents took the matter to community groups and began asking a simple question: what can we do ourselves?

According to school alumnus and committee spokesperson, Dr Fine Thabologo, the answer came in small amounts, with some residents contributing as little as P20.

Dr Thabologo said the commitment shown by residents convinced them that a more organised effort was needed.

“We saw the commitment and determination and decided to form a committee,” he said in an interview on Saturday.

He said a 13-member committee was subsequently formed, with community contributions eventually reaching P45, 000. A fundraising dinner added another P17, 000, bringing the total to P62, 000.

He said the committee then began knocking on doors for assistance, including approaching the Education Infrastructure Management Company (EIMC), a government company responsible for education infrastructure maintenance.

The response, he said, was encouraging. 

Dr Thabologo said through its project management office, Debswana donated 24 doors, 24 locks and paint. Debswana, he said, would further bring more partners on board with Rosedale donating 20 doors, 30 locks, varnish and hinges.

He said Jumborp also joined the effort, providing skilled manpower while WEBA Engineering committed P200, 000 towards ablution facilities, including water and non-water systems for boarders.

According to Dr Thabologo, plans for the ablution project were currently being prepared, with construction expected to take about a month once work began.

On August 29, the community moved from planning to action. Dr Thabologo said the first phase focused on the hostels, with 48 doors installed and varnished across eight boys’ hostel blocks, while beds were also welded. 

The girls’ hostels, which require another 12 doors, will follow. 

He said painting would be done once the school closed.

Rakops JSS is also among the first junior secondary schools earmarked for maintenance this year under EIMC. 

Dr Thabologo said EIMC would initially focus on reinstalling electricity and maintaining windows.

Once the hostel phase was complete, he said, attention would shift to classrooms and teachers’ accommodation.

But the community still needs help.

 Dr Thabologo appealed for beds and mattresses, saying the number of boarders had long outgrown the available resources. ENDS