He said the society was only centred around particular areas, notably Serowe because it is where it was formed by the country's then First Lady, Ruth Khama." This was the time when we had no major branches around the country; there were only a few volunteers around Serowe and some in Gaborone." Kgati said he started serving the Red Cross in Bokaa before moving to various branches around the country, including Kanye and Bobonong. He said the Red Cross is one of the societies that can be commended for being able to remain politically neutral over the years. Kgati told the Monitor that they were able to move from helping the poor only to helping alleviate other societal problems like HIV and AIDS, after its emergence in Botswana in the early 90s. He said the Red Cross has been able to help during some natural disasters like floods and droughts that have occurred in the country throughout the years.
He said they have recruited and trained volunteers to be able to execute their objective of giving humanitarian aid to the needy in society. He said the past and current executive committees were faced with a challenge of implementing branches all over the country and training of volunteers in those branches. He said they have been able to start new branches, but it is not enough because there are some places where there are still no branches." We now want each and every branch to clearly understand their role in the society," he said. He said they also want to involve traditional leaders in the society to make sure that the Red Cross branches in the country grow and sustain themselves.
