Volume 54 Issue 6- June 2016 : Social

Twenty one-year-old Lucas Bok was born and bred in Khawa, a small community on the fringes of Kgalagadi South District. From a very tender age he has had ambitions of one day getting a decent job and help his family put food on the table. Unfortunately grades at school did not favour him and he had to join the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Lucas was thrown a second chance in life, being part of the Khawa Motor Sport Youth Academy in 2012. The academy, an initiative by Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO), is part and parcel of the Khawa Dune Challenge and Cultural Festival, and was a response to President Lieutenant General Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama`s call for the involvement of the small community of Khawa in the spectacle. Now Lucas and his colleagues are the toast of the village. They ride on fancy two wheeler motorcycles and quad bikes with relative ease and receive deafening cheers every time they appear in the dunes with their bikes.

Even though he is clueless about prime racing events in paying ranks such as the lucrative and toughest off road rally in the world, the Dakar Rally, Lucas has a strong conviction that he is ready to take the big challenge in local races such as the popular Toyota Desert Race commonly known as Mantshwabisi. Even though he is thankful to BTO for the unwavering support they have offered and the breakthrough the organisation has given to the youth in Khawa, Lucas and his group decry lack of support from the private sector. One of the young riders in Khawa, Tumelo Manyoro who scooped position one and pocketed P5 000, said with proper support financially most young people in Khawa would realise their potential and it would help them consider motorsport for a living and alleviate poverty in the region. The academy is under the watchful eye of Botswana`s professional rider, Ross Branch who conducts lessons during school holidays. Tumelo and Manyoro concur that they need ample time to learn tricks behind the bikes and reach the levels of professional riders.

Speaking to Kutlwano magazine on the sidelines of the Khawa event, BTO chief executive officer, Thabo Dithebe said during the hosting of the first edition of the Khawa Dune challenge organisers made a decision that the locals were involved. He said they planned on training 10 young people on a yearly basis with the emphasis being on participating in Botswana Motorsport Association annual activities succh as the desert race. “We will support them and we want them to utilise the skills they have acquired to empower other young people. We are pleased to inform you that more and more young people are coming on board and we want them to make a living out of it,” explains Dithebe. Dithebe said they were working in collaboration with the Khawa Trust to identify activities such as quad guides and quad bike safari which could be a tourist attraction. Dithebe said they have not encountered much challenges since the inception of the academy and were keeping their fingers crossed that they realise their intended mandate. 

Kgosi Piet Manyoro of Khawa was full of praise for the initiative, saying if conducted properly over the coming years it had the potential of distracting young people from engaging in social ills while at the same time assisting them financially. Kgosi Manyoro was happy that it targeted even out of school youth who were mostly vulnerable to social ills temptations. He encouraged young people in the neighbouring villages of Bogogobo, Gakhibane, Khuis and Middlepits to step up and utilise such opportunities. ENDS

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