Africa-Press – Botswana. Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) and the Alliance Française de Gaborone on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA), which will see the NGO enrolling some athletes and officials for a course in French language ahead of the Paris 24 Olympic Games.
Speaking at the launch, BNOC CEO, Tebogo Kesupile said the course was one of the major preparations for the games.
“Competitions of such a magnitude have to be prepared for in all ways possible, and as BNOC we believe competitions for our elite athletes are not just on the field of play, but culturally and language wise as well,” she said.
She said the partnership with Alliance Française would therefore help to capacitate potential Paris 2024 team athletes with French language and cultural exchange lessons to eliminate any barriers as the team competed in France.
Kesupile also indicated that the partnership was just a fraction of the many ways in which the BNOC had started preparations for the Paris 2024 Games.
“We want to use multi-faceted approaches beyond the traditional athlete preparation and participation in various events to qualify for the games. We are developing partnerships both locally and internationally with the overall objective of developing and enhancing athletes’ post-career skills,” she said.
Kesupile said this was more so that many local elite athletes often found themselves at a loss once their active careers were over.
Alliance Française de Gaborone director, Angélique Saverino said partnership between her organisation and BNOC was exciting as they took pride in supporting exceptional athletes such as boxer, Aratwa Kasemang in their pursuit of both sporting excellence and French language.
She said as a public figure, Kasemang had therefore been an inspiration for their other students.
“We have no doubt that she will carry the spirit of Botswana with her to France and compete with unwavering strength and resilience,” she said. For her part, Kasemang, who is the first beneficiary of the partnership, said in her may travels as a sportswoman, she had noted the power of speaking a language other than one’s own in foreign lands.
“A language opens doors to a culture, to a people’s way of life. It opens worlds of opportunities, and French is one of the languages I have so yearned to speak. So I appreciate BNOC and Alliance Française for helping me realise my dream,” she said.
Kesemang said should she qualify for the Paris 24 Olympic Games it might give her a psychological mileage and confidence she would need to compete, even beyond the Paris 24 Games as French was one of the widely spoken languages globally.
Alliance Française is an NGO established as a centre for French language and culture with a commitment to fostering linguistic and cultural diversity.
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