Greed and corruption seem to be the rule of the day. Those lofty pillars seem to have collapsed into dust. But we need to remember that just because someone is loud - it doesn't mean that they are big. Just because all of the stories filling the pages in the newspapers are bad it doesn't mean that good news is not out there. Good people do good works. People who do things not to gain fame or fortune, people who do things solely because they are the right things to do.

n the quiet, sleepy village of Lecheng, the pillars of Vision 2016 are being laid on a foundation of strong, reinforced concrete by people with a keen eye on what they want our country to look like ten years from now, and it is time that their story is told. Lecheng, a village of tall trees cradled in the arms of the Tswapong Hills about 15 kms from Palapye, is where the story begins. Like villages all over Botswana, the young active people of Lecheng leave home for school and employment and often find that their home village is little more than a place to visit on long weekends. The development of their village is of no concern to them. Their lives are played out under the city lights of Gaborone or Francistown.

In December of 1997 at a kgotla meeting held in Lecheng, the Village Development Committee (VDC) lamented the lack of youth participation in the development of the village. The gathering brainstormed ways in which they might get the youth to be more active. From that meeting of minds arose the idea of creating Lecheng Sub-VDC's in the urban centres around the country; in places like Gaborone, Francistown, and Selebi-Phikwe. If they couldn't bring Lecheng's wayward youth to the kgotla to discuss the village's development problems, they would take the village's development problems to the youth wherever they might be. It was a brilliant idea that lifted off like a lead balloon everywhere except in the capital city. Though none of the other Lecheng Sub-VDC's were successful, the one in Gaborone took root and has been blooming ever since. T

The Gaborone based Lecheng Sub-VDC's main objectives include giving the main Lecheng VDC continuous advice regarding the prioritisation of development projects, working with other committees in the village such as the Community Home Based Care Committee, the Health Committee, HIV/AIDS Committee, VET and PTA. It also aims to actively shape and encourage young people to take their education seriously, to raise funds for development projects and donations, and to foster youth participation in the village's developments through their monthly meetings. The current chair of the group is Mohutsiwa Gabadirwe who works as a senior curator of geology at the National Museum. According to the Gabadirwe, the Gaborone based group averages between 20-30 members all of whom call their home village Lecheng. The group works under the main Lecheng VDC.

"With our relatively easy access to information and avenues, our vision entailed being in a position to influence things to happen expeditiously. The community at large has since found us as a useful group that can be sent on errands, as the Setswana adage says, 'Maoto a nong ke phofa'," Gabadirwe said. The teaming up of the elders with a firm knowledge of the village's development needs and challenges, and the professional youth's educational background and capitol city contacts, make them a force to be reckoned with.

They have a trail of successes behind them to prove that the plan is working. The Gaborone Sub-VDC has assisted the Lecheng main VDC to argue for the relocation of the tarred access road during the Martins Drift Road project. The initial road would have added many extra kilometres for Lecheng residents. The Gaborone group has raised funds for many projects such as donating 35 blankets to the 1999 Lecheng flood victims, uniforms for the Lecheng Health Committee, a large donation to Mokgalo CJSS's 10th Anniversary celebrations, donations to Lecheng Health Committee and Home Based Care Committee in 2003, and donations to a Lecheng 4B Regional event in 2004. Gabadirwe said that they also make an annual donation to the top form three student at Mokgalo CJSS at the end of year prize giving event. Since all Lecheng students must go off to boarding school when they leave for senior secondary, the Gaborone group supplies the deserving student with a complete set of all of the appliances he or she will need such as an iron, an ironing board, tea kettle, and sheets.

The Gaborone group uses this annual prize to encourage Lecheng youth to be responsible and to excel in education. The group realises, too, the importance of sport and entertainment to the youth living in Lecheng. They sponsor an annual Miss Lecheng Beauty Pageant to raise funds for their developmental work. Last year, two businesses run by Lecheng entrepreneurs, MPN Holdings and Mike-Beat Enterprises, sponsored the pageant. The group also holds an annual football tournament for the five Lecheng football teams: Lecheng Young Stars, Eastern Birds, Mokgacha United , Ditladi Wonders and Breakers F.C. Many players from these teams have gone on to play for teams in the national super league. The Gaborone group is currently working on numerous projects with the Lecheng VDC. They have secured and fenced a plot to build a community hall for the village. They are currently looking for funds to build the hall. They are working on demarcating the village for future developments. As the nearest village to Palapye, many Palapye residents find it easier to get plots in Lecheng so the village is growing. They'd like to ensure that it grows sensibly with stipulated areas for industry, business and space for a second primary school. The Gaborone group would also like to expand their academic prizes to include the best primary student and the best form one and two students at Mokgalo CJSS.

"Funding is the major challenge for us, " Gabadirwe says. They used to make a substantial sum from holding picnics but unfortunately the Serowe-Palapye Bye-Law Authority now refuses to give them permission to hold such events saying that there are no laws governing such activities. Gabadirwe wishes more young adults and the youth would join their group and that the sub-VDC's originally envisioned for other urban centres could start working and contributing to the development of Lecheng. The current chairperson of the Main Lecheng VDC, Mr. Goememang Mmonwa, believes that they are unique in Lecheng to have an active group of young people like the Lecheng Sub VDC in Gaborone. He says that they have played a role in the development of the village. He mentioned that currently they are working together to develop the grove of towering Makosa trees in the centre of the village into a tourist spot. He says that it does make things easier having these young professionals in Gaborone where they can easily make contact with some of the decision makers needed for such developments.

He also mentioned that since the young Gaborone residents have access to computers and other equipment they assist the main VDC with correspondence and leaflets as well as other documentation that the VDC might need. Gabadirwe believes that there are still challenges but hopes that lessons might be learned from their example. "Youth are not involved in rural development. The burden is left with the old people back home who through their volunteerism have kept the spirit of rural development alive. However, in most cases our parents, who have so much passion to see developments coming to rural areas, do not have expertise to face the challenges and demands of the communication trend of the modern times.

"The missing link to address this problem is the youth. If the government could establish a formal and recognised youth participation programmed in line with the VDC's then a lot could be achieved in rural development and building an accountable society."