By.Gofaone Motswagole
Botswana International University of Science and Technology, Staff Sports and Recreation Association (BIUSTSSRA), in conjunction with the Southern African Universities Staff Sports Association (SAUSSA), held a groundbreaking ceremony for a community outreach project at Palapye Swallows grounds on the 22 nd of July 2022. The ceremony paved a way for the construction of ablution blocks at the Palapye Swallows grounds.
The event was officiated by the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST), Vice Chancellor, Professor Otlogetswe Totolo.Among the delegations were SAUSSA President, Mr Simon Makena and his counterparts from Limpopo University.
The community of Palapye was also present at the occasion, thus including Kgosi Maforaga, and other village leaders together with representation of Palapye Swallows Football Club.When delivering the welcome remarks, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration, Mr Davies Tele said the launching of the community outreach programme signified what BIUST stood for. Mr Tele thanked the two associations and all stakeholders involved for the benevolent gesture, and
also affirmed that the project will impact and benefit the community of
Palapye.
The SAUSSA President, Mr Solomon Makena gave a brief on the formation of
SAUSSA. He said SAUSSA was established in 1999 with an initiative of involving staff members in sporting activities. He mentioned that the association comprises of universities from SADC region. Currently, the SAUSSA family has nineteen affiliated members from the Southern African countries.
Each year SAUSSA hosts a tournament that rotates among participating universities. This year BIUST are a host to the 21st edition of the annual SAUSSA Games. Mr Makena stated that their aim as SAUSSA counterparts
was to impact positively on the communities. The President indicated that the
initiative was a major project and came at the right time when SAUSSA was preparing for its annual tournament.
In conclusion, Mr Makena challenged SAUSSA as an association formed out
of institutions of higher learning to start coming up with ways and means in
ensuring that Africa as a continent becomes self-sustainable and reduce
reliance on European countries.
For his part the Chairperson of BIUSTRRA and also SAUSSA Vice President, Mr Kelebonye Bagai,highlighted that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) had become an increasingly important priority for BIUSTSSRA with an explicit commitment to deliver a range of community initiatives.
When delivering the project overview, he said it is within the Association’s
background that BIUST through (BIUSTSSRA) found it fit to build an ablution block at Palapye Swallows Grounds as a precursor to the SAUSSA 21st Edition Games. As one of the mandates of SAUSSA the host university must engage in a community outreach project.
Mr Bagai said his Association (BIUSTSSRA) and the entire BIUST Community put cleanliness at the top of the agenda. Likewise, good hygiene
is of equal importance for everybody involved in maintaining good health and fitness.
According to the Chairperson, the initiative is aimed at providing a safe and conducive sanitary environment for athletes at sports facilities. The construction of the ablution blocks is expected to be complete in December
2022, and will be launched during the upcoming SAUSSA games billed for the 4 th – 9 th December at BIUST campus.
Before addressing the audience, Professor Totolo expressed gratitude to all
the contributors of this key milestone. “It is an honour and privilege for me to
be part of this exciting event as we celebrate the groundbreaking ceremony of the ablution blocks for Palapye Swallows grounds. I sincerely appreciate all of
you for coming out here today to share this special historic day with us,” Prof
Totolo alluded ahead of his keynote address.
Prof Totolo stressed that despite the challenges brought by the novel COVID-19, BIUST staff and students have demonstrated a resolute spirit of resilience
and commitment in enabling the University realise its mandate. He mentioned that the event marked one of the many efforts made to position BIUST as one of the key drivers for uplifting the lives of Batswana. Prof Totolo showed that sports, recreation, health and wellness in organisations go together.
He said these are some of the ways by which an organisation can increase employees wellness. “At BIUST we put health and wellness at the top of our agenda. It is against such a background that today we extend our health and wellness beyond our own boundaries to the community around us,” he noted.
The Vice Chancellor applauded Botswana International University of Science and Technology, Staff Sports and Recreation Association (BIUSTSSRA), for having identified Palapye Swallows grounds as beneficiaries for this project.
He also emphasized that lack of adequate, accessible and an inclusive ablution facility at sports venues was undermining both participation in, and attendance at, sports events, and denying people the health and social benefits of sports.
Palapye Swallows Technical Director, Mr Bennie Kgomela, welcomed the initiative on behalf of his team. He said it was dreams come true for their football club and the community of Palapye at large. He described football not just a game to young boys but also an apt tool that instills moral values to their upbringing and vocabulary. On behalf of the community and Swallows Football Club, the Director thanked BIUSTRRA and SAUSSA for the commendable gesture.
The launch of the project was later followed by SAUSSA tournament that began on that day until Saturday. BIUST was hosting other universities like BUAN, UNISA and University of Namibia.