The weavers of Shorobe have learnt ways of using natural resources in a sustained fashion and each batch of baskets sold sponsors the purchase of a batch of seedlings of both palm and dye trees for the plantation (where these important trees are conserved) in the village. The cooperative comprises of 31 women and four men who are craftspeople, mostly weavers and carvers. All the members of the cooperative are trained in marketing, governance and bio-diversity conservation by the Biokavango Project with the help of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Botswana government and the GEF (Global Environment Facility).
The Biokavango Project, which is sadly coming to a close, recently took Arts & Culture for a tour of the renovated Shorobe Basketry Cooperative curio shop and plantation. Like all craftspeople of the area, the skill of weaving baskets and carving has been passed on from generation to generation. Shorobe baskets are beauties to behold and the geometric shapes that have been woven on the basket are simply breathtaking. From time immemorial, the indigenous people have been using these God-given skills and resources to sustain themselves. The catchy geometric shapes have been given names such as phatla ya pitse (the horse's forehead), peolane (swallow), lebelo la ntshe (ostrich's running speed), maru (cloud), teemane (diamond), keledi ya thutlwa (giraffe's tear) and terena (train). All these shapes capture scenes from around the Okavango and other parts of Botswana and might determine the cost of an item. After completion, every item is duly graded and priced according to the quality of the work done.
