15 Dec 2021

Twelve pupils from Matlapana Primary School have produced an anthology of traditional stories that depict the art of weaving, real life, fantasy and recount tales that form part of their cultural beliefs and traditions.

The anthology is a product of a reading and writing project implemented by Okavango Research Institute (ORI), in collaboration with Matlapana Primary School, Thari e Ntsho organisation and Maun public library.

The project, funded by the Community Development Society (CDS) from New York, is meant to stimulate a reading culture among primary schools, to drive community development in the Okavango Delta.

Speaking during the presentation of the book and awarding of certificates to the pupils, who participated in the project, Tebogo Mogaetsho, a teacher from Sedie Junior Secondary School, praised ORI and its collaborative partners for laying a solid foundation, which he said would improve pupils’ academic performance.

He appreciated that they used indigenous books to ‘catch them young’, adding that storytelling offered a good avenue through which people learnt about their cultures and environment.

Writing short story books, he said, was a way of communicating with the world, adding that he believed that the anthology would sell the Ngami culture and eventually the country, to the international community.

Mogaetsho noted that the region was well known as a tourism destination and the book would thus promote cultural tourism.

He also commended the pupils for showing creativity and urged them to continue producing more books for the benefit of the coming generation.

The founder of Thari e Ntsho, Bontekanye Botumile explained that the project was a step in the right direction, as it was in line with her organisation’s mandate of storytelling.

The organisation’s intention, she said, was to record, share and reflect aspects of Botswana culture to keep the country’s heritage alive.

She appreciated that through the project, pupils developed passion for reading and writing, hence they managed to produce the anthology.

Botumile said the pupils were engaged in out of school reading and writing activities, to enhance their literacy skills and they eventually managed to tell untold stories that once graced crackling bonfires.

She expressed a wish that the project could be extended to other schools in the region to promote a culture of reading.

Giving the project overview, the team leader, Prof. Toyin Kolawole said human development started with education.

He added that human progress was better achieved when the context in which development took place was well understood by those involved in the process.

Prof. Kolawole commended the authors of the anthology for following the steps of their predecessors in keeping the tradition of storytelling alive.

“These pupils should be praised for their skills in weaving the real and imagined to create stories.

Some of the stories are original creations of the pupils themselves and other pieces are those that the pupils picked up from reading new books,” he added.

He acknowledged that the reading and writing project was primarily meant to socialise the youngsters into the Batswana culture as it related to environmental conservation and civic responsibilities.

He appreciated that the project collaborators identified some impact pathways, which were attainable at the end of the project life, citing that pupils had acquired the knowledge of socio-cultural issues in relation to environmental protection and civic duties and that they developed reading and writing skills.

Prof. Kolawole also mentioned some challenges such as inadequate funding for the project, but appreciated that they had achieved more with the little they had.

He called on other stakeholders to come on board and support the project, so that it could be rolled out to other schools. ENDS