27 Aug 2024

BotswanaPost Chief Executive Officer, Mr Cornelius Ramatlhakwane has hailed Madikwe Community Care Group for the compassionate gesture that seeks to attend to the needs of disabled people and the elderly.

Mr Ramatlhakwane said the elderly and disabled community deserved to be given better health care services for them to live better and healthy lifestyles.

He was speaking during the Dinokeng 26km charity bushwalk organised by Madikwe Community Care Group in Malolwane recently. The bushwalk was organised to raise funds to build a facility for the elderly and disabled community.

He, therefore, said their participation in the charity fundraising activity was aligned to their mission of contributing to any nation building exercise which impacted positively to the lives of the people.

 BotswanaPost pledged P100 000 towards the construction of the centre.

Mr Ramatlhakwane further pledged P10 000 from his personal account while his close friends donated P20 000 towards the good cause.

Mr Ramatlhakwane said once complete, the centre would play an important role in accommodating the elderly people who needed attention.

Former Zebras Striker Jerome “JJ” Ramatlhakwane who was the co-chief walker at the charity bushwalk encouraged the participants of the need to keep healthy all the time through exercise.

He said COVID-19 had taught Batswana that keeping healthy was critical for one’s health, and therefore they should exercise always even if it meant walking around the yard.

He also said there was a lot to derive from health and fitness, especially against non-communicable diseases.

When sharing the objectives of the bushwalk, the Executive Director of the Madikwe Community Care Group, Dr Lillian Moremi, said the organisation was registered in 2016 with focus on helping the elderly and disabled.

Dr Moremi said their plans to start construction in earnest  were brought to a halt by the pandemic, but noted that they were ready to hit the ground running.

She said their desire was to undertake an 80 per cent assessment of disabled people in the Kgatleng District. 

The group had since met 1 000 disabled people against a total of 1 500 in the district. In their assessment, they identified severe disabilities that needed urgent attention.

Nevertheless, she said, after visiting 22 villages, they resolved to have a place where they could be cared from, which led to plot allocation in 2022.

“Now that we have the plot, we need to raise money for the construction of the centre and the charity bushwalk was organised in that regard,” she said.

Dr Moremi said phase one of the project required P1 million which included the day care centre. She thanked all the sponsors among them Pudulogong Rehabilitation Centre in Mochudi, I am Special in Tlokweng and BotswanaPost.

The assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Honourable Mabuse Pule thanked BotswanaPost for their contribution.

Mr Pule, also the MP for Kgatleng East said the charity walk was a sign of a compassionate heart towards the needs of others.

He said the desire to help others was a human act of volunteerism that accorded others an opportunity to restore dignity and care.

He thanked the care group for bringing people together for a common purpose, adding that a charity walk affected spirituality and physical well-being.

He said walking was a powerful exercise that revived the whole body.

Mr Pule urged Madikwe Community Care Group to remain united to achieve their obligations for the common good of the society.

When giving closing remarks, Madikwe Community Care Group Board Chairperson Rev. Moses Nkolonyane, thanked Dr Moremi for her dream which she shared with the community.

Rev. Nkolonyane said they have stood together to make sure the dream come true and now they have a plot which they wanted to develop.

He asked everyone to come on board and contribute towards the construction of the day care centre. He thanked all the sponsors and well-wishers for their contribution. ends