Eco-Club Schools in sporting tournament

Wilderness Safaris’ non-profit partner, Children in the Wilderness (CITW), in association with Diacore Gaborone Marathon, successfully held a Sports in the Wilderness event last week Friday at Tshwaragano Primary School in Old Naledi, Gaborone. This event marked the culmination of CITW’s Sports in the Wilderness programme, which commenced on 11 February 2019 and was hosted across 15 affiliated Eco-Club schools in Botswana. The programme was funded by Diacore Gaborone Marathon, at a total cost of BWP287 000. Over one hundred children at Tshwaragano Primary School participated in this final event, having begun preparations and qualifiers in the previous week. The finals included three sporting disciplines, including individual running races of 1 500 m, 800 m, 400 m, 200 m and 100 m, and two team events: soccer and netball. The Tshwaragano Primary School finals were the biggest in the Sports in the Wilderness series, with the school having in excess of 1 000 enrolled learners. “The Tshwaragano Primary School Sports Day was the final event in this exciting series of impactful events throughout our schools in Botswana. We are proud to have partnered with Diacore Gaborone Marathon on this initiative, which has given us the opportunity to showcase our care for the environment, as well as the importance of physical and mental fitness, and working together as a team. These are paramount to a culture of health and wellness, and are practices we need to instil from a young age”, commented Wilderness Safaris Botswana Managing Director, Kim Nixon. Tshwaragano Primary School’s Eco-Club was launched in April 2019, and is already the host of approximately 40 learners. CITW and Diacore Gaborone Marathon’s Sports Day serves as an additional demonstration of Wilderness Safaris’ commitment to investing in youth development. Wilderness Safaris also donated key equipment and infrastructure to the school, including JoJo water tanks and volleyball equipment to support the upcoming introduction of the sport at the school. Managing Director of Diacore, Kfir Teichman, noted: “What an incredible way to end the CITW sports days! As Diacore, we are delighted to see how well these sports events have been received by both the students and the schools. There is a clear appetite for more activity and support when it comes to sports education and, indeed environmental practice. Hosting this series of Sports Days ahead of the 2019 Diacore Gaborone Marathon truly cements the importance of investing in youth athletics’ potential,” concluded Nixon. The Diacore Gaborone Marathon will be held at the GICC this Sunday.