Debswana employees and partners donate to Mokubilo P. School
Living up to their company’s example of serving the community, last Friday Debswana employees and business partners got together to give back to the children of Mokubilo Primary School, creating smiles as bright as the diamonds they mine!
Proving that teamwork really does make the dream work, the mining giant’s workers and friends donated over half-a-million Pula’s worth of essential resources, with the handover adding an extra sparkle to the school’s prize-giving ceremony and preschoolers’ graduation.
The donations, which amounted to P513, 496 in total, included a state-of-the-art 3-in-1 printer, a range of textbooks for Standards 3 to 6 and sponsoring the prize-giving/graduation event.
Facilitated through Debswana’s Employee Volunteerism Program, the initiative was aimed at enhancing educational excellence.
Located roughly 140km from Orapa, Mokubilo Primary School currently has 758 students enrolled.
Breaking down the numbers further, School Head, Ikageng Segolodi revealed this figure included 394 boys and 364 girls, with the school struggling for classroom space to house them all.
“It is a boarding school accommodating more than 100 students. We have 21 classrooms and a shortage of 5 classrooms. We plead with the business companies here to help us with the classrooms,” said Segolodi, adding grades were slipping as a result.
“We are not performing as well as we would like. In 2021, the A-C pass rate was 47.8 percent and last year this fell to 43.3 percent. Our students also have a problem with speaking English,” she continued, noting gestures such as this will help the children immensely.
Delivering the Keynote Address on behalf of his colleagues, Debswana employee, Keitumetse Mmoloki noted attaining excellence requires a combination of mindset, discipline and commitment to continuous improvement.
“You have to believe in your abilities, embrace challenges as opportunities, and have the courage to learn from your failures. Set clear and achievable goals are another essential aspect of excelling in any field. Goals provide direction, purpose, and a sense of accomplishment,” Mmoloki told his attentive young audience, who displayed impressive listening skills for children so young.
“Excellence performance is not a destination but a journey that requires a commitment to lifelong learning and improvement. Seek knowledge, embrace new ideas; there is no shortcut to excellence. It demands dedication and hard work,” continued Mmoloki, whose official job title is: Technical Lead – Slope and Mine Design Optimization.
For her part, Boteti Chief Education Officer, Oratile Thonkga expressed her heartfelt thanks to Debswana and its partners for the thoughtful gesture.
She encouraged the pupils and teachers to show their appreciation by working harder and doing their best to improve their marks.
Those that helped make the day a memorable one included: Arotec Holdings, Mindea Exploration and Drilling Services, Abimicon Botswana, Ground Probe, NTR Technology Holdings, Cowburn Isherwood and Associates and Aridus Hydro Geotechnic.
