Christmas comes early for Rakops JSS
Correspondent | Monday November 20, 2023 06:00
Last Friday was a joyous occasion since Debswana OLDM handed all of the students Christmas gifts in addition to school supplies such as 300 tables, 900 chairs, and other equipment.
Because of a school issue, pupils in Forms 1 and 2 were compelled to write and read on their laps during class.
Debswana’s OLDM Project Management Officer (PMO) senior manager, Abel Jhamba, stated in his presentation that the donation was made in response to a request from Rakops Junior School for various school amenities such as classrooms, student desks, and student chairs, among others.
He said that after receiving the request, PMO staff members dug deep into their pockets to complete the project, but they eventually ran out of funds and sought collaborations with various business partners.
“The school had requested 300 tables and 500 chairs, but we are here to deliver 900 student chairs with the assistance of our business partners. We will also be delivering five design and technology work benches, complete with stools and tools. The team also found it necessary to assist eight students with complete school uniforms,” he added. Jhamba announced that, in collaboration with the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, they will be giving the school an orchard consisting of 100 indigenous trees.
He continued: “This is to recognise the role that schools play in making sure that they promote a culture of conservation and biodiversity.”
He went on to say that the PMO’s responsibility is to prolong the life of the OLDM in process facilities and other business equipment. To carry out our activities, we collaborate with various business partners within this framework.
Therefore, the senior PMO manager shared that it is within this landscape that we work with different business partners to deliver our initiatives. He further said that Debswana, as a company, has a set of six values entrenched within its organisational culture.
“One of those values is called Show You Care, which is what brings us here today. We are living and showing that we do care for the people within which we operate. There are 20 villages within which Debswana OLDM has a sphere of influence ranging from Khwee to Malatswai, and each of these villages has benefited one way or another through the Debswana CSI programme,” he said.
The Debswana Corporate Social Investment programme is guided and aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which are: no poverty, good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, and others.
Entrenched within the Debswana CSI programme is employee volunteerism, which speaks to sustainable communities and encourages employees to use their skills and experiences to benefit the communities, he added.
According to him, the PMO has allocated Rakops to work with and share their skills and knowledge. . They donated an irrigated and fenced vegetable garden to the Leretlhabetse Support Group last year, along with their business partners.
He concluded by expressing gratitude to their business partners, thus One Track, Dream Choice, First Edition, Tuba Engineering, Trou Drilling, TKM Engineering, RBL, Cowburn, and Verec, for making the donation possible.
Christopher Mudala, the principal of Rakops JSS, expressed gratitude for the initiative, saying it will help the school perform better.
“The gesture will also benefit the students’ integrity because, due to a scarcity of school supplies, Form 1 and other Form 2 classes have been writing on their laps,” he said.
Mudala added that Debswana OLDM has been assisting the school by supporting academic excellence and excellence awards, as well as making monetary donations to the school for being the most improved in the Boteti region.