BPC Otse/Kanye Cycle Challenge Empowers Mogobane JSS

Calistus Kolantsho | Monday June 11, 2018 12:58

The first beneficiary from the challenge is Mogobane Junior Secondary School which received P10,000 on Friday.

Speaking at the handover ceremony, Tsela Riders secretary, Shimane Serameng said the initiative is a partnership between the club and Botswana Power Corporation (BPC). He said the challenge, which is mostly held in November is expected to change the lives of the residents of the villages along the Otse/Kanye road.

“All along the race would start at Police College gate and we went all the way to Kanye and came back, which is a distance of 110km. We wanted the residents to feel that they are part of the race and participate in it. I have learnt that you have a cycling club even though it is not a Botswana Cycling Association (BCA) affiliate. We want them to be part of the race this year,” Serameng said.   

He said the proceeds that were being donated from last year’s event and another school would be selected to benefit from the 2018 edition.

For his part, BPC senior marketing and communications officer, Sandy Mosarwa said when they came on board, they had some agreements and one of them was to give back to the communities where the challenge was held. He said they also advised Tsela Riders to encourage residents to establish cycling clubs. Mosarwa said they would like the funds that they have donated to the school to be used for prize giving, especially for sporting activities.

“The partnership is for three years and last year, which was the first edition of the sponsorship, we gave them P155,000.  From that amount, there was money from prizes and the other amount was for operations. In the next two years we would increase the sponsorship with 10%. It means this year the sponsorship has increased by 10% and the same thing would happen next year,” Mosarwa said.

He said the decision to have the starting and finishing point in the village was to have spectators and also for small businesses to benefit. Mosarwa said they have agreed to get services such as catering from the village.