12 Aug 2021

Gaedupi Keitumetse is a self-taught guitarist and has been playing the instrument for the past 10 years.

It was not an easy journey for the Mogapinyana-born, who currently entertains people at Boiteko Junction Mall in Serowe with his skillful playing of the guitar and melodious voice. 

He has been playing there for the past seven years. 

Shine, as he popularly known, was born with good eye sight but at the age of 10, he started developing eye sight problems, which led to blindness.

Though, he described the moment as devastating, it did not stop him from pursuing his dreams. 

First, he started weaving at Pudulogong School for creatives in Mochudi where he ended up teaching other physically-challenged people to weave before he started his journey of playing a  guitar. 

Shine, later released a song in 2007 titled Itlhokomeleng, which he said was a plea to Batswana to take care of themselves but most importantly, to look after one another. 

He said he was working on another song at the moment but was faced with challenge of expensive studio fees.

Shine, who had participated in the President’s Day competitions, said the platform gave him the opportunity to showcase his talent and improve his guitar playing skills.

Also, he said the prize money helped him as he invested it in goat rearing. 

Keitumetse said because of his disability, he had faced a number of challenges that could have thwarted his efforts of earning a living for himself, but his tenacity enabled him to stay focused. 

He said being unable to move from one place to the other on his own was a challenge and to beat it, he relied on his younger brother to be his guide. 

Also, he said the COVID-19 pandemic had not made things any easier because during lockdowns, he was unable to perform and consequently could not earn an income. 

In addition, he said another challenge was that he faced competition from other guitarists who come to Boiteko Junction Mall as well as those who sell CDs, stating that such was inevitable as everyone was trying to make a living for themselves.

He said he had not let such discourage him. 

Rather, he added that he finds ways of working well with them and even learn from them.

Shine is also a member of Phuthaditshaba, a group of people who call into the radio during the Kgogamasigo radio show on RB1. 

He said this is one of his favourite shows and participating in it helped him to interact with different people and to also learn from other participants.

He said success needed patience and that challenges were there to help one make progress towards a desired goal.

He said he considered himself a living testimony of what courage and perseverance through challenges can do in someone’s life. ENDS