Big dreams for Barclays- Mogae Scholarship recipients

OWN CORRESPONDENT | Friday August 17, 2012 00:00

 

There are three women, a district officer, a person with visual impairment, and one of the youngest among the five just completed his undergraduate degree in May.

Aged 35, Boikhutso Majang is not only the oldest and most experienced in the group, but she is also the most striking. She lost her sight in 2005, just after graduating with a bachelor's degree in Physical Education. Battling to come to terms with her condition, she only mustered the courage to go to work after a year, and she was deployed to Molefi Senior Secondary School, which has a has a special unit for people with disabilities. In 2009, she was reassigned to guidance and counselling duties.

'Losing sight is a challenge,' she says. 'I have had to learn everything afresh; things we take for granted like mobility, daily life skills, and most importantly, how to accept my situation.'

Through the Barclays FG Mogae Scholarship, she is going to do a master's programme in Counselling and Human Services at the University of Botswana, after which she plans to go back to teaching where she hopes to be an inspiration to visually impaired students.

Majang points out that many students who lose sight in their youth are left dejected, and they need someone to help them accept their situation and live positively. 'To accept yourself afresh after losing your sight can be very difficult. I lost my sight in 2005, but I only went back to work in 2006 because I was too shy to leave my house.

My plan is to give hope, not only to the visually impaired, but many other people who face life's different challenges,' she said.  Another recipient of the scholarship, Tumani Wesi-Mbulawa (23), who is going to study for a Masters in Physical Education and Sports Science, has his eyes on developing elite athletes to help improve Botswana's performance in international sports competitions.

He points out that with the current pool of untapped talent, Botswana should be able to send more athletes to the Olympics than the five who represented the country at the London Games. 'My other dream is to develop sport among people with disabilities because their disability should not hinder them from achieving success in sport,' he said.

For 28-year-old Tlhalefo Motswagole, a District Officer (Development) in Lobatse, the scholarship to study for a Master's in Development Economics is a gateway to a long-held dream to be a development economist. In 2008, Motswagole was honoured during the annual National Vision Awards for a unique sports project she initiated at her first work station, the small village of Mabutsane.

Finding herself in an isolated place with almost no recreational facilities, she got together local children for various sporting activities, which would then be followed by a sit-down programme to discuss various issues such as self-esteem, botho, behaviour at school and at home, as well as study skills.

She set up a similar initiative in Lobatse when she moved there last year, and to date has more than 50 children aged 4-13 in the project. She describes it as her way of living the nation's long-term blueprint, Vision 2016.

Now that she is moving to Gaborone, Motswagole promises to maintain contact with the children who have come to know her house as their second home.'I will keep going back to them,' she said. Goitseone Modisaemang (23) is clearing her desk at Botswana Power Corporation (BPC), where she has been a graduate intern for the past 11 months, to begin a Master's programme in Economics at UB.

 In appreciation for the privilege of the scholarship, Modisaemang has decided that when she completes the programme, her first priority will be to serve the nation, possibly as an economist within the public service. 'I feel so humbled to have been offered this scholarship; it's an honour indeed,' she says.

'I realise that it's not everyone who got this privilege.' Gofamodimo Sechele, also aged 23, just completed an undergraduate degree in Economics in May, and is going back for a master's programme in the same discipline.

At the top of his hobbies, he mentions volunteering, and he has given his time to different organisations such as the Francistown SOS, and the UB Society Against HIV/AIDS.  'Volunteering moulds my character to aspire for better things, including changing people's lives for the better,' he explained.

Acting Head of Corporate Affairs at Barclays Bank of Botswana, Grace Mosinyi, says the scholarship is the bank's commitment to help transform lives of some deserving young Batswana by sponsoring them for postgraduate studies. 

Since Barclays Bank of Botswana established the scholarship in 2008 in honour of former President Festus Mogae, it has been awarded to 25 students.