Desert Bush Walk pleads for sponsors
As July 29th the pencilled date for a worthy cause that seeks to lift the lives of the less fortunate inches closer, organisers of the third edition of the Desert Bush Walk: Winter 2017 are still pleading for sponsors to come on board and support the noble cause.
The key objective of the event is to raise awareness towards sustainable educational projects and disadvantaged children in Mabutsane/Jwaneng area and beyond. It also seeks to promote and brand Jwaneng (and its neighbouring areas) as a tourism destination for both local and international tourists, under the Cultural and Sports Tourism Portfolio.
The Desert Bush walk takes place in Jwaneng, and to achieve their mandate, organisers rely on the support of sponsors and well-wishers. Although so far, they have attracted a sizeable number of sponsors, they are still hoping that more will jump on the train and become part of this noble event. So far, sponsors that are on board include Liberty Life, Botho University, Stanbic Bank, BTC, Botswana Savings Bank, Web tickets, Davebuoy Wors, Cresta Jwaneng, Pick n Pay (Jwaneng), Patmo Transport, MRI, Majwe Mining, AFDA, Sunday Standard, Botswana Guardian, Duma FM, Choppies, Botswana Post, Shell (Jwaneng), Engen (Lobatse), Mokala Lodge and BAMB. Organisers have also disclosed that on July 14th, they will cease selling tickets for the walk. This, they say, will give them time to prepare all logistics for the end of month event. The walk is divided into two categories, namely 10KM and 30KM both starting in Jwaneng, then taking a bush trail into the desert and back to Jwaneng.
Registration is P200 for 30 km and P100 for 10km. Highlights to look forward to this year include an Aerobathon and Spinning on Saturday evening courtesy of Shakes Fitness Centre in collaboration with Racquets Aerobics Club, as well an after party organised by Davebouy Wors. Speaking during a press conference Tuesday morning, one of the organisers, Archibald Ngakayagae who is the CSI- Concepts FOUNDATION Chairman and Volunteer, revealed that 14 days to the event, they are not where they wish to be with regards to sponsorship. He says that their budget for everything was P350 000 but that they were still a long way from reaching that target. Part of the costs goes towards branding, refreshments and many more, but with some of their sponsors coming on board as service providers, this means that they still have work to do when it comes to finding more sponsors who will bring in the much-needed revenue.
“We have experienced a growth in terms of the sponsors who are on board, but we still need more,” he says. He also explains that they sit down with the Ministry of Education to find sustainable education projects that they can support. “All proceeds are handed to the ministry,” he says. Speaking at the event, one of the sponsors, Golekanye Molapisi who is the Communications Manager for BTC informed the gathering that they were happy to be coming on board. “This is the first time that we are coming on board as sponsors. And it is important that we became partners. This is an area that we are looking on tapping into,” he says. Highlights to look forward to this year include two activists in 2014, namely Ngakayagae and Amy Benson who partnered with a team of volunteers, established the Desert Bush Walk. The funds raised went towards the construction of a Creative Learning Centre to house a Carpentry Workshop and a Library for Sese Primary School during the inaugural event. Proceeds from the second event went towards donating P150 000 worth of equipment to the Mabutsane-Jwaneng sub-district to benefit 19 schools in the area as well as P10 000 to New Xanagas Primary School.