Church launches free 'keep-fit' sessions

NELSON DIRENG
Correspondent | Thursday December 9, 2010 00:00

This is one of the Bible verses that may have motivated Dan Mitchell, a member of the Harvest Christian Church (HCC) in Gaborone, to consider using his talents as a professional fitness trainer to benefit others, not only spiritually but also physically.

Speaking at the launch of the programme, titled 'Fitness For Real life' on Tuesday, Mitchell said the idea followed the realisation that many Batswana needed to know ways of living healthy lives and access the right nutrition but could not do so because of the high expenses involved and lack of personal trainers.

He said he decided to embark on a mission to impart these skills free-of-charge to anyone interested. Mitchell said he approached his church elders and after their approval he went ahead and recruited some church members but soon decided to sell the idea to residents in Block 9 where the Church is located.

'In just three months of operation we have received multitudes of people who have testified about how much the programme has changed their lives in that short period,' he said.

Mitchell said that after the church realised the growth and benefits of the training sessions they decided that not only people in Block 9 should benefit but every Motswana should have the opportunity to live a healthy life.

He said their next step is to sell the idea to other churches to ensure growth. The programme is open to both teenagers and adults with the aim of improving muscular strength, cardio endurance and weight loss.

Mitchell emphasised the importance of teenagers attending such programmes as they can get them off the streets where 'they are likely to waste their lives by engaging in alcohol and drug abuse'.

As if that were not enough, Mitchell said they would like the programme to offer free fitness lessons to those who want to turn training into a career. 'We hope to get accreditation to offer the lessons as fully fledged courses with qualifications,' he said.

HCC representative, Brian Watts applauded Mitchell for coming up with the idea, as it is something that will benefit the community. As Churches we have abundant skilled personnel and we need to encourage our members to use these talents to benefit others.

Watts said this is also in line with the National Human Resources Development Strategy (NHRDS) that is aimed at emphasising the needs of a skilled and diverse human resource in the country. 'We want people to gain the necessary skills from others and use them for the benefit of themselves and others in the country,' he said.

Watts however said they are likely to face problems, as the project would be difficult to expand without the necessary funds. 'Currently we are using our facilities and soon they would not be enough to support everyone,' he said.

The launch ended with testimonies from beneficiaries of the training sessions and a video presentation on some of the exercises Mitchell is conducting. Professional tennis player Mary Pierce, who is in Botswana for two weeks, graced the occasion and officially launched the fitness programme.