It is now official.
Alexander McCall Smith’s world famous No 1 Ladies Detective Agency will shoot in Botswana shortly.
It is encouraging to see that a lot of young talented Batswana are positioning themselves to participate in the movie in one way or another.
The movie shooting in Botswana provides a life time opportunity.
Young Batswana should grab those opportunities.
It is high time Batswana cease to look at themselves as victims.
Our eternal wailing in victim hood bodes very badly for our country.
We should as much as is possible learn to position ourselves to grab whatever opportunities come our way.
We all know how reluctant Batswana children who had studied overseas were earlier on very reluctant to stay abroad and acquire experience even as they were offered opportunities in some of the world’s premier corporations.
They rejected such offers, notwithstanding the large remuneration rewards they entailed.
They wanted to come home and work for government as civil servants.
That fierce sense of nationalism, while sometimes welcome, it has in the long run worked against us.
Not only are we unprepared for globalization as a result of our refusal to work offshore, we have also as a country missed out on gaining international experience provided by working for such organizations as the United Nations, World Bank, IMF, African Union etc.
We think its time for change.
And it is encouraging that young Batswana of today seem much more prepared and more adaptable to bigger world challenges than their forerunners.
Those who make it could one day, as a result of having participated in this movie become world stars.
Movie making in the developed world is a multi billion dollar industry.
It is also a tough industry with no room for the faint hearted.
In that way we are pleased to learn that many Batswana are actually lining up for auditions to take part in this particular movie.
Outside the shooting of the movie itself, there are many windfalls.
Sectors that on the fringes like transport provision and tourism are also likely to benefit as world attention descends n Botswana..
The Books by McCall Smith have done a great deal to draw world attention to Botswana.
Now with the movie shooting in their backyard, Batswana themselves stand to directly benefit from the books.
What is important though is that we must overcome the culture of risk aversion that has trapped us for a long time.
Comfort zones no longer exist.
We must accept that life is such that those who never take risks or attempt to open their horizons will never make breakthroughs.
That is exactly how life is.
Risks come with consequences, but with them they also bring opportunities.
It therefore is time we recognized that the days of clamouring for government to provide us with everything are gone.
Instead of forever wallowing in victim hood we should take whatever opportunity comes our way. In that way not only do we discover our full potentials, we also learn new ways of survival. That is the only way towards realizing our maturity as a nation.
