12 Aug 2019

Pudulogong Rehabilitation and Development Trust of the Blind board chairperson says almost 100 per cent of the asbestos roofing at the school has been replaced.

Speaking at a fundraising dinner hosted by Pudulogong over the weekend, Mr Rakwadi Modipane, said the only infrastructure left was the kitchen whose roofing would be replaced by Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority (BOCRA) .

“Mascom started with our administration block and then the diamond people took over the renovations of the hostels and now our school has a new face lift and the asbestos roofing has been removed,” he said.

Mr Modipane also thanked Alman Metals for having volunteered to dispose off the asbestos material in a safe manner as well as donating mattresses and food items.

On how the renovations and fundraising came about, Mr Modipane said everything came about after their infrastructure was deemed to be not health compliant due to the asbestos roofing.

He said they set up a committee to help with fundraising and solicit support for the school to address a health hazard that everyone was facing, especially the school children.

“It has been eight months since I was appointed as board chair and we have various challenges we are faced but for now we are dealing with the lack of funds through various fund raising activities,” he said.

For his part, of Pudulogong coordinator, Mr David Ratsatsi, said there was a misconception about the visually impaired students in Mochudi, which seemed to suggest that they were all Bakgatla.

“Our school enrols students from across the country and the reason you find a lot of our former students who are blind roaming the streets of Mochudi is that Bakgatla treat them (the blind people) better than the rest of Batswana,” he said.

He said former students ended up staying in Mochudi because of the love and understanding in the area.

Mr Ratsatsi said Pudulogong Rehabilitation and Development Centre was a charitable non-profit organisation, which came into being in 1982 as an initiative of the Dutch Reformed Church in Botswana. 

Mr Ratsatsi noted that the centre enrolled a maximum of 64 students and a minimum of 32 and basic entry requirement is JC. 

“Pudologong gets 70 per cent of its funding from the Ministry of Basic ducation as the training subsidy and 30 per cent from donations and fundraising. Our doors are open to everyone,” he said. ENDS