The much anticipated Maun Marathon billed for July this year is expected to benefit orphans and vulnerable children in the tourism town. At a stakeholders meeting last week, the Executive Director of Ngamiland Council of Non-Governmental Organisations (NCONGO), Monametsi Sokwe said there is a lot that the organisation wants to do, looking at the lifestyle of people residing here and for the fact that Maun is known for a lot of activities and entertainment, which could have a lot of consequences if not carried out suitably. As a result, he said NCONGO found it fit to introduce for the first time, the marathon which they however want to make a community project. The marathon as an entity is an initiative of NCONGO which has close to sixty members in Ngamiland.
Because it is a new thing, Sokwe said this year the proceeds will go to Motse wa Kgalalelo, an already established NGO that has a plot in Matshwane area to be used as a centre for orphans. “We had thought of building a day care centre, but there are a lot of orphaned children in Maun, and so we want to take them to a place where they will feel wanted and appreciated by the community.
The Golden Club (a group of retired nurses) has also shown interest in assisting at the centre by way of taking care of the elderly who will also be housed at the centre. They said to us they will volunteer and take care of the orphans and elderly through treatment adherence, so that the elderly particularly are given their medication at all times as it has become evident some of them default as they are old and therefore forgetful people”, he said.
With advice from the steering committee which was elected on Friday, Sokwe said another NGO will be picked next year, considering its needs.
Another board member, Livingstone Kentshitswe said their wish is for the marathon to also include people with disabilities as well as people of all ages so as to enable the participation of all as well as unearthing more talent.
Prior to the big marathon, he said there will be mini ones in the villages of Sehithwa, Shakawe and other villages in the region, leading to the grand finale in July for all who would have won. The steering committee is set to go on benchmarking visits to the towns of Selibe-Phikwe, Francistown and Jwaneng which have held Marathons before so as to learn and see how things are carried out.
