ELEPHANT HAVENS GIFTS TWO CLASSROOM SIZED TENTS TO MATAPANA PRIMARY

Africa-Press – Botswana. Elephant Havens has donated two classroom sized tents to Matapana Primary School in Maun.

Handing over the tents on Friday, Elephant Havens co-founder, Mr Boago Poloko, said community outreach was a concern in Ngamiland because there were gaps between communities and the tourism industry.

Mr Poloko highlighted that pre-COVID-19, a total of 11 million tourists visited Botswana annually, but flew directly into the Okavango Delta without investing and appreciating communities around the delta.

He noted that Elephant Havens presented proposals to their friends from foreign countries to assist communities. “We bring in investors from all over the world and they create a bond with our elephants and they want to do more therefore we present these community outreach ideas to them because we know there is a need in many communities not just in Ghabamocha where we operate,’’ he said.

Mr Poloko stated that the tents were an investment in education as children would be taught in a conducive environment away from adverse weather conditions.

Matapana school head, Ms Keabonye Maoto, said her school was one of the biggest in Maun with 1050 learners.

She highlighted that the school had 20 classrooms against 36 teachers, which indicated a shortage of 16 classrooms.

This, she said, had resulted in introducing shifts, which proved to be disadvantageous to them as the school ended up underperforming.

Ms Maoto said Matapana enrolled children from as far as Boro settlement and Sexaxa, as the latter did not have standard seven classes.

She thanked Elephant Havens for heeding their call by writing proposals to many companies to seek for donations.

Ms Maoto said she was optimistic that more donors would assist them as the school was still in dire shortage of classrooms and furniture.

The principal education officer in the Ministry of Education and Skills Development, Mr Kgomotso Mafoko stated that the ministry recognised the adopt a school initiative and called for community and private sector involvement in education.

He highlighted that there was a population expansion in Matapana due to it being a planning area with mushrooming of developments including residential places. Mr Mafoko thanked Elephant Havens for recognizing the importance of education by building a conducive environment for learners.

‘’It is now upon you Matapana Primary School to make Elephant Havens proud by achieving excellent academic performance,’’ he said.

Kgosi Tshupegetso Bontsibokae of Matapana commended Elephant Havens for setting a good example in the tourism industry by investing in education and helping many communities.

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