03 Apr 2025

 Growing up from a family of woodcarvers, little did young Batlogeleng’s son know that his family’s craft will one day put food on his table. 

 The wood carving bug stung so deeply that today Mr Gaolathe Batlogeleng is known in Majwanaadipitse and beyond, solely for his craft.  The 24 year-old youthful and energetic woodworker has made a name for himself with his creations that includes cabinetry, furniture making, wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and wood turning.

As a young boy, Mr Batlogeleng would often watch his father work with raw materials and witnessed the charm of craftsmanship come to life.  Working with wood, he said, was no walk in the park as it required accuracy unlike clay where one could mix until they got the texture right.

 Mr Batlogeleng, known to the villagers by the name ‘Chelete’ of Marokhu ward at Majwanadipitse in Serowe North Constituency, is what you can call the village wood carver, something he started early on in life and learnt from his late father who was equally respected as a wood carver. He loves how a piece of wood can be transformed into a complex art piece. He loves wood, sleeps with wood and play with it by curving to what he wanted.

While some youth struggle to come up with viable means of survival, and others look up to their children to provide for them, he has a different story to tell. A self-made entrepreneur, Mr Batlogelelng noted that it was not easy to start off as he had to spend time cutting off logs, and that he did not have enough money to purchase advanced cutting tools. As such he had to use an ordinary axe and carry the logs by himself.

He said as a young boy, he carved just to pass time, without any feeling to use the skill to his advantage. He was fuelled by passion, perseverance, and innovation, which propelled him to dedicate his life to telling stories through his artistic expression. He channelled his energies towards capturing the essence of his culture, society, and the ever-evolving global landscape.

His business specialises in designing and crafting different items such as wooden chairs, mortars, pestles, drums and others. The limited resources also hampered the business  as he travelled to far places to harvest tree species, which are scarce in the locality, and this resulted in him buying ready-made timber Mr Batlogeleng markets his work at his home and walking in the street of various villages advertising himself, and also during kgotla meetings and attended market days to sell his crafts. He uses Motlopi, Morula, Mosokaphala,Morukuru, Mothware and Modumela to carve kitchen utensils such as cups, spoons, bowls, chairs, sofas, beds frames, wooden tables and moulded human and animal figures.

He said he wished for government to help wood carvers with tools and machines that could make their job easier, noting that he was willing to try out modern technologies to advance his work. Mr Batlogeleng indicated that lack of advanced cutting machinery proved to be a challenge, as he spends most of the time cutting logs hence the slow production. Lack of proper transport to carry logs from one end up to delivery compromises his business, he added.

He appealed to land board to allocate business plots to wood carvers so that they could carry out their wood curving nicely in one place. His prices ranges from P100 to P2 000. A wooden chair costs P800, table P250, animal picture P200 and an image of a person P2 000. He said he was also doing drawing using paint.

He encouraged youth in his area to come to him and get free education about wood curving so that they could earn a living without employment. Apart from wood curving he constructs fences at lands and he is a farmer at Majwanaadipitse. He once curved a duiker ‘Phuti’ and gave it to the former president, Kgosi Khama 1V of Bangwato in kgotla meeting as a present. ENDS