Young Banyaditswe Attends Women Leadership Programme
Baboki Kayawe | Monday July 10, 2017 15:31
The 25-year-old Tonota born Goabaone Banyaditswe says the opportunity comes at a crucial time in her career life as she is interning with De Beers as a community development personnel under the beneficiation desk.
The Botswana Accountancy College graduate says she applied for the fellowship as it promises to sharpen her leadership skills as well as grow her network. Banyaditswe adds that she has been trying her luck for four years without success, and realised back then her portfolio was not rich enough to earn her a seat. Now, mature in her volunteer work, which started when she was 18 years, the go-getter says volunteerism is good in the sense that it enables one to meet many people.
“For instance, I had volunteered to do a presentation on volunteerism when I happened to meet one of the human resource personnel of De Beers back in 2015. In fact she was the keynote speaker, then I asked if they have any internship opportunities and that’s how I ended up with the company,” she says. While a teenager, she volunteered as a caregiver at Princess Marina Hospital where she cuddled as well as bottle-fed toddlers without parents there. She also mentored children at Baylor Clinic. In addition, she has worked with the Red Cross Society as well as the Sir Ketumile Masire Foundation.
“I have realised that I’m a patient person and I believe in making a difference in humanity without necessarily expecting monetary rewards. The best payment in volunteerism is putting a smile on someone’s face,” she says. “Help is not money. It means being present when someone needs a hand.”
The bonus, she says, came when she met people who helped in opening her world as well as opportunities such as the MILEAD, Moremi Initiative. Banyaditswe is also driven by the fact that she is the eldest of two siblings, who she always want to be exemplary to. She says her dream is to be a community developer, a change agent - a dream she is armed to follow until the very end.
“If you have a dream you need to pursue it, don’t think twice,” she says. She expressed gratitude to De Beers for not only allowing her to pursue her dream in community development, but for also partly sponsoring her three weeks stay in Ghana.
A group of 28 African young women leaders between the ages of 19-25 will be undergoing a three-week intensive training under the MILEAD Fellows Programme at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon.
Selected from over 1,260 applicants in 42 countries, the 28 Fellows represent 26 African countries and the Diaspora and epitomise a pan-African diversity with multi-disciplinary academic, professional and social backgrounds.
The programme will serve as a platform for Fellows to cross-examine concepts of leadership in a broad African context, cultivate the skills and experiences necessary to occupy and excel in leadership positions, and gain knowledge on cutting-edge issues critical to African women and their communities.
In addition to knowledge-building lectures, there will also be skills-training workshops, teambuilding activities, role plays and other interactive activism Fellows that will be mentored by experienced and accomplished women leaders who are committed to supporting and tutoring the next generation of African women leaders.