Boot Camp Youth get Military Shock

| Monday March 4, 2013 00:00

 'We were not warned of this, or told what we are getting into; only to find while we were there that this is a military exercise.

The first day, we arrived late in the afternoon, very tired; we were expecting to get a rest, but they took us to a place code named the Square, and another code named CTO. We were working with car tyres neck-laced on us, and turning giant tyres for a distance of 200m the whole night; we didn't sleep!' one of the youth told The Monitor on Friday.

At 3m, he said they were up and doing military exercises that included 'push ups, endless running, training with gum poles, training in the heat, dancing for the soldiers, serving punishments, that was our routine'. But the military style boot camp had components where various mentors made presentations on a number of factors to be considered in entrepreneurship. 'During those business lessons, our bodies and minds were often exhausted by the military exercises, you couldn't comprehend anything; all you wanted at that time was rest,' one youth said.

The trainees say they were told the exercises will prepare them for the challenges of running a business. 'I think it can turn us into stubborn, hardened individuals; I tried to look for positives, I couldn't find any', said one youth who was part of the lot that completed the boot camp last week. Another youth lamented that they were not supplied with training gear, and the personal clothes and shoes they used could not withstand the military drills.

'They only item we were supplied with was the blue t-shirts. They took our shoe sizes, but the boots or shoes never came; the next thing we were told the boots/shoes, were still with the supplier,' a youth told The Monitor on Friday. He said besides the t-shirt they were given a P300 allowance. 

'When we finished the boot camp on Thursday, we travelled the whole day back to Gaborone, without food or drink. They said we should use the same P300 to get something to eat,' a youth said.