Debswana Jwaneng Mine, in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity Botswana (HFHB), this week launched the Debswana ÔÇô Habitat for Humanity Maokane Housing Project, a project that focuses on improving the lives of many families in need of decent shelter and housing.
In this project, Debswana Jwaneng Mine and HFHB are building houses for 40 families in Maokane, commencing in May and ending in December this year.
Jwaneng Mine General Manager, Balisi Bonyongo, said that his company had contributed P350 000 to this project and the houses will be built by fully paid Habitat staff.
“This is part of our corporate social investment undertaking through which our company responds to the needs of or communities, ensuring that the vulnerable and less fortunate are assisted to live their lives with dignity and pride,” he highlighted.
Bonyongo said the launch of this project is a true example of Debswana living its values of ‘Show We Care’, which is Debswana’s identity.
“The project is also about building trust, about dignity, about giving people the chance to work together with neighbours and the community to construct an abode which they can be proud of,” he stated.
The money that Debswana has put in for this project, he said, is a revolving fund. He said it is only by paying back that the project can continue to provide funds to build houses for other deserving members of the community.
“Your commitment will ensure that the project is sustainable, and can continue to turn dreams of many other families into reality for a long time to come,” he stressed.
Bonyongo explained that the activities of HFHB are not only aligned to those of Debswana’s corporate social investment programme, but also speak directly to aims of Vision 2016. According to Botswana National Vision, ‘The challenge for Botswana is to enable all citizens to have access to adequate shelter, including privacy, space, security, lighting and ventilation at a reasonable cost in relation in incomes.’
Speaking at the same occasion, the National Director of HFHB, Kabelo Seadimo, pointed out that Debswana, through this partnership, had the opportunity to prove to the world that the diamonds mined in Botswana are for the country’s development.
Through this partnership, he said, Debswana has also proved that they indeed show they care about these communities by giving back to the community.
“Quoting from the Inauguration Speech by the President with reference to the third D (Dignity), ‘no one should need to live an undignified life as a result of poor shelter or health and abuse in a domestic environment. Anything in life that brings you suffering affects your dignity as a person and we shall seek to address and overcome some of these challenges,” said Seadimo.
