Mccarthy's rust: cross between modern and traditional Botswana

McCarthy's Rust: "My cellular phone is being charged in Tsabong," says Kgosi Petrus Engleren of McCarthy's Rust to his son. The statement does not elicit a degree of consternation from the addressee, nor other kinsmen in earshot.  This depicts the fact that the settlement is struggling with developments. Though they have technologically advanced tools like cellular phones, they still have no electricity to power them. Kgosi Engleren and others have to travel 25 kilometres to have their phone batteries charged. It is however, a life that they are used to.

McCarthy's Rust is a remote village bordering the Botswana-South Africa border, on the southwestern part of Botswana. One of the striking features of the settlement, is the mud houses found in the yards. They are made of the deep red sandy soil that define the soil surface of the settlement. But what is interesting about the houses is that sticks, normally used in erecting goat kraals have been used as reinforcement material for the walls, then mud mixed with cow dung used to join the sticks together thereby forming a wall.