Passion, determination pushed me through � Kobe
Correspondent | Friday May 29, 2015 17:05
For him, traditional music and designing traditional attire has contributed to the quality of his life.
Working with leather has always been a job associated with old fashion and old people, but for Kobe it is a different story.
His passion for preserving culture started way back at primary school when he was doing Standard Three. At that young age, he was already a member of the school traditional dance group. His love for traditional music continued on at junior secondary school. Kobe who was not able to pass his Junior Certificate examinations did not completely shutter his dreams.
For most people failing JC examinations it marks the end of the road to a better future. For him, that was a downfall he needed to wake up from and make a better living.
Having failed his JC examinations meant that he had to start another chapter in his life, as he did not have money to go back to school. Traditional music was the only thing that came up in his mind. He started a group at his home village called Kwena Madiba.
The group made several performances that led to some traditional groups having interest in working with him. He then joined a number of groups including Mogwana Traditional Group, Mokorwana Cultural Group, Dithakga tsa Mmino, Ditaola Cultural Group and later on joined the now prominent Shumba Ratshega.
“The experience I got from these groups motivated me even more to make use of my talent. In 2009 I decided to look for greener pastures in a different place that is when I decided to move to Selebi-Phikwe.
A group called Selebi-Phikwe Cultural Group showed interest in me and gave me the responsibility to coach them,” he said.
His spirit of working together with others combined with the experience he got from previous groups helped him to coach the Selebi-Phikwe traditional group and took it to higher levels.
In 2010, he helped Kwena Madiba be one of the groups that performed in the United States of America at the Mid-Festival in Middle Town. In 2011 Kobe decided to form another group called Kala tsa Kgale. Forming this group was not only for his personal benefit but also for the youth at large.
“I decided to form a group that will help youth like me to refrain from rebellious behaviour. I believe that when we are together we do not only give attention to traditional music, but also discuss issues that affect us as youth,” he said.
Kobe did not only focus on traditional music but also spread his wings and took advantage of being a traditional dancer and decided to make leather products.
“Traditional music did not only serve as entertainment to me. I also used it to discover my talents. Through it, I was able to come up with new ideas of tackling life’s challenges and then started having passion in leather works, not only for financial purposes but also to show my culture as a Motswana,” Kobe explained.
Still in 2011 the Department of Youth opened doors for him and sponsored his business with P90,000. Lack of experience in leatherworks was now a major challenge to him, but determined as he was Kobe did not just fold his arms.
He took another trip in search of assistance in different organisations. Fortunately, the Department of Veterinary Services and Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture heard his cry and sponsored him.
He then did a course in leatherworks in Francistown at Impala Training Centre for six weeks. In 2012 he did another course still at Impala for another six weeks. Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) also provided him with sponsorship to do a course in machinery at LEA incubator in Gaborone.
Just like in any other business, Kobe’s also went through some challenges.
The major one being that of expensive materials. The materials used to manufacture leather products are expensive and that led him to selling their products at higher prices.
“We ended up raising prices for our products and our customers ended up complaining,” he said.
Since he started his business he has managed to sell his products to schools like Mokobilo Primary School, Moeng College and other individual customers. The business has managed to save Kobe from unemployment.
“Since I started this business I have never bothered anyone looking for employment rather my aim is to employ youth like myself,” he said.
Kobe has also managed to partner with another youth, Tshoganetso Akanyang, and he is currently training another youth, Batisani Roma.
The price of his products depends on the nature of the product. The cheapest is valued at P150.