12 Aug 2019

Some residents of Maun who embraced the Seharona cultural event have hailed the organisers for coming up with an initiative aimed at bringing different tribes under one roof to appreciate the rich culture of Ngamiland.

In an interview, they said the initiative was a welcome development and further urged them to up their game and make the event more appealing and memorable.

Seharona is a brain child of Lorato Tembwe, who shared the idea with other youths and agreed to make it a reality because they believed the activity could promote unity amongst ethnic tribes residing in Ngamiland District.

The event, which was held at Maun Beach Gardens, was the first of its kind to be hosted in Maun and members of the community did not come in large numbers as expected.

Some culture revellers who graced the event decried poor organisation as it did not start on time, and that it was not eye catching as they hoped despite bringing crowd pullers in the likes of Dr Vom and the Maun legend, Molefhi Monagaeng, known as Stika Sola in music cycles.

Different traditional groups also featured with dances such as Tsutsube, Diware, Seperu and Setapa. 

But they appreciated efforts made by the organisers and encouraged them to improve next year, stating that the district was rich in culture and called on organisers to make it bigger going forward.

One of the coordinators, Tembwe appreciated all those who embraced the event and assured them that they would improve it, noting that the event could not be perfect for the first time as they encountered challenges such as lack of sponsorship.

She revealed that they wanted to make it an annual event because they believed that it could bring more benefits to the community.

Asked why they initiated the event, she stated that they realised that the district was made up of different ethnic groups.

With the event, Tembwe noted that they wanted to revive culture, promote unity amongst tribes so that they all appreciate that ‘they are one big tribe called Batawana.’

Going forward, she said they intended to bring on board the business community and the district leadership to support the initiative. 

She revealed that they wanted to bring another component of beauty pageant whereby tribes would compete at their village level and eventually hold a big event to select one winner who would be the ambassador of the event.

They also intend conducting workshops where tribes would share their history and tradition for others to appreciate, said Tembwe.

“We want to promote ownership of the initiative and teach people to differentiate culture from politics because we realised that at times good initiatives fail because some people align them to politics,” she added.

She further urged the Ngamiland community to support the initiative as it would bring more economical benefits to the district. Ends