Africa Youth Games: It�s here, let�s saviour it and not knock it
Thuso Palai | Wednesday April 23, 2014 21:51
This is however not across and is somewhat of a generalisation based on what I have seen and read in recent times. Everytime another Motswana does something or achieves something we tend to question and be more negative than positive. I could go on and on and give examples, but I guess we all know what I’m on about. And like I just posited, there are exceptions who are always positive and always try to build rather than knock. As Batswana that is the spirit we should have, commend and look for positives before looking for the negatives.
Botswana will in a few weeks host one of the biggest sporting activities in Africa; the Africa Youth Games, aptly dubbed Gaborone 2014. As expected, there have been some milestones, successes, challenges and failures along the way. The team that has been assembled to organise the games has so far done pretty well, despite the many challenges that they faced. They are not far from the finish line and I’m confident that they will not trip before the finish line. To a ;large extent they have done well to raise funds, they have done well to ensure that all venues are ready, they have done well to ensure that all logistics for team arrivals are on point and they have generally done well to coordinate and plan for the Games. Despite the somewhat little time that they had to prepare for the Games, they have done well and I can confidently say; despite the many challenges, some of which still exist, they have done quite well. So far, so good.
Having had chats with Games CEO Tuelo Serufho and listened to him in different talking about the games, I get a sense of someone who is confident that ‘WE’ will stage a successful Championship. At times we forget that these are OUR games as BATSWANA and not Serufho’s games and we should as much as possible support and ensure that they are successful. We can do that by supporting, assisting, commending and volunteering to assist.
As much as we can question some things, we should do that in a way that builds rather than breaks. Sometimes I tend to feel that as Batswana we revel in other people’s failures and we are always quick to see others fail, that we forget the bigger picture. If it were to happen that we fail to successfully host these games, which I know won’t happen, it would not be about the LOC, Serufho or his secretariat, but it will be about BOTSWANA.
That could have far reaching consequences as we strive and harbour hopes of hosting other international sporting events. We could then sit here and blame someone but it will be OUR Botswana that will suffer. That is why we need to rally behind the Local Organising Committee and advise where possible and help rather than being all negative, and always looking for shortcomings. I’m not for one second saying we should not point out our shortcomings, But I feel there are more positives than negatives, so why not hype the positives.
There are a lot of issues that have been major challenges, but we got to get up, and move on. Yes; there have been issues and speculation of misuse of funds, but should we be focusing on that right now? I know after the games, the LOC will have to account for all the monies they had and used, and if there has been any wrongdoing, the perpetrators will be taken to task. Yes; there has been some resignations at the Games Secretariat, but that does not stop us from moving on. There has been different stories as to why those particular individuals resigned, but for me, my focus is on US hosting a successful Championships rather than on why so and so resigned. For me that is an issue for another day, as long as their resignations did not derail us much. Yes; it is a concern as to why people would resign enmasse, but let’s shelve that for another day when we do a post-mortem. I will at a later date gather information and individly interrogate why they resigned. Sometimes we tend to make something out of nothing. Yes; in any organisation or setting there is bound to be a difference of opinion, and when that happens and one of the parties resigns, is it really something to dwell on? I would rather we dwell on the successes and the strides and achievements that were realised after those resignations.
As an individual I’m also worried about some issues, for instance the power issues during the games, the potential Ebola threat, and the alleged misuse of funds but I’m confident that we shall overcome those challenges and indeed something is being done about those challenges.
The games are here. Let’s rally behind the LOC and TeamBW.