Ossie and Co flavour Maitengwe
WeekendLife
Young professionals from Maitengwe village have decided to help develop their village and helping those in need in the village.
Maitengwe native, Mmoloki “Ossie” Mmolotsi is one of those spearheading the agenda. He currently works as a Principal Human Resource and Administration Officer at Water Utilities Corporation based in Francistown.
In December 2014, Mmolotsi was honoured with the first award to exist in Maitengwe, titled Personality of the year; this came after the youth realised that amongst others, he was the most helpful in community participation.
“We realised that there is always lack of participation of youth therefore these initiatives are trying to bridge the gap,” explained community activist Mmolotsi.
He went on to indicate that as Maitengwe youth they decided to transform their village in all ways possible. Maitengwe has established an annual career guidance workshop where different professionals take a journey into educating others about careers they are in.
They share the knowledge and direction based on areas of study and careers in demand; business sector benchmarks and share experience with upcoming entrepreneurs.
Though he leads most projects, Mmolotsi is not doing this alone; he gets help from Maitengwe dwellers and those who hail from there but work at places.
Robert Bagali, a team member and teacher at Tashata Community Junior Secondary School, has indicated that they want Maitengwe to be a favourite destination to many. He gave the example that they want to help improve the school results in the village. “People have volunteered to sponsor at the prize giving thus pushing the kids into trying harder,” he said.
Maitengwe village has a junior secondary school and two primary schools.
Bagali said they intend to register a trust so that their activities become more transparent. He went on to say that people should stop viewing everything politically, “we are not playing politics, but rather we see this as part of village growth and keep in mind that it is done whole heartedly.”
He also made a plea to the media saying that they should try to cover Botswana as a whole and not only focus on developed areas like Gaborone.
Mmolotsi is of the view that the government cannot issue out money if not asked, therefore they have made it their mission to teach the youth about all the necessities of getting help through government policies.
He explained that most youth don’t get funds from LEA or CEDA because some cannot even come up with proper business plans.
Mmoloki and his colleagues last year managed to assist a community of Basarwa at a place called Sabasi in Maitengwe. They donated clothing and food.
Those hailing from the village but residing overseas have not turned their backs on their home; one of them is Mmolotsi’s sister who sent clothing from United Kingdom last year during the winter season; the elderly also got a share from the distribution.
The Sabasi community does not have proper infrastructure facility to access health care and other services. They are usually assisted under trees – ambulance visits occasionally to drop medication. Mmolotsi said that they are trying to develop the Sabasi area, and he appealed to the corporate sector to help the community.
Sabasi is not Mmolotsi’s only concern; the fact that Maitengwe’s home based care has a non functional vehicle makes him eager to do something. He says currently they are digging from their pockets to help the organisation while still coming up with more sustainable means of to fund raise; like the upcoming Maitengwe Day.
Money raised from a recently held marathon will be used to erect a billboard that welcomes people to Maitengwe.
“We get help from social workers, teachers, entrepreneurs and even lawyers like Mathews Diba, Moeti Joel, Oupa Sabata, Vusa Phena, depending on what’s related to their field of work,” added Mmolotsi.
34 year old Mmolotsi said that the group is yet to create a functional structure involving Village Development Committee, the council and all necessary departments therefore need inspiration and support.
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