Botswana Games attract 600 volunteers
Koketso Kgoboge | Thursday December 3, 2015 15:12
The games run from December 5 to 13, with the official opening scheduled for the Francistown Sports Complex on Saturday.
The competition, which draws together all the country’s districts, will see 2,607 athletes, 265 officials and 500 volunteers involved.
Spokesperson for the Botswana Sports Volunteers Movement (SVM), Thabo Osekeng said they wanted 500 volunteers but deliberately trained 600 instead.
“The local organising committee had asked for 500 volunteers to assist and we have deliberately trained 600 volunteers. We have trained an extra 100 volunteers so that in case of unforeseen eventualities we are on top of our game,” he said.
Osekeng further said they are pleased with the response they had received from people in the north. He also added that volunteerism has no boundaries or age limits. “Our focus was to get more people from the north, and we are happy because the majority of the volunteers we have trained are from Francistown and the surrounding areas. Many people from the northern areas and as far as places like Maun have shown interest in volunteerism. We had about 800 people who showed interest, unfortunately we could only select 600. That is a pleasing sign that the spirit of volunteerism is growing.
“It has come to our realisation that the majority of people who show more interest in volunteering are females and that is a challenge to their male counterparts. We are also excited to have parents who are over 50 years showing interest. We also have honourable people, councillors and district commissioners, among our volunteers. This is in line with our mandate that we should bring everyone under one hat,” he added.
However, Osekeng expressed disappointment at people who confuse SVM for an organisation that addresses unemployment.
Osekeng said: “We have met people that wanted to get paid and at the end of the day they walked out on us. As much as we understand unemployment challenges, we are not an organisation that will provide employment. We are a movement that contributes our time towards helping sport. It should come from within and it is special to use your time for a good course, so we encourage people to consider volunteering. It is fulfilling”.