Barclays in the Community

The beneficiaries of the project were selected by a committee which included Dikgosi,, the village development committee, the Department of Social Welfare and Habitat for Humanity.

Barclays did not only invest money into this project; but has also been actively involved in every step of the project since planning and implementation phases. Barclays’s colleagues have volunteered their time by building with beneficiaries in Moshana. This involvement has made the partnership unique and special.

Our partnership with with Habitat for Humanity and commitment to providing shelter to the destitute has transformed the village of Moshaneng. The project has brought with it a new sense of empowerment and hope..

“This project is very, very important to our village,” says Kgosi Seate Marumo. “It’s going to alleviate a lot of suffering for the beneficiaries. It’s going to shape their whole lives.”

Teenage orphans have also benefitted from the project and been provided with opportunities for training in marketing and sales. Some teenagers have been able to earn some income by assisting in managing stalls at events, packaging and providing clerical work.

An Orphan Fund and a Mother’s Fund have been initiated. The orphan fund gets 100% support from Mothers For All, for skills training to those teenagers who have completed Form Five but now do not have any chance of getting a job or further government sponsored education. The Mother’s Fund has also been set up to give the mothers an opportunity to go back to school or train in some skill. Each mother needs to save and contribute 50% of the fees.

The Barclays partnership has raised the profile of Mothers For All and enabled them to leverage funding from other donors including the Selebi Phikwe Economic Diversification Unit and European Union.

Mothers for All (MFA) started in 2008 with a group of dedicated volunteers and some seed funding from Robyn Scott, author of Twenty Chickens for a Saddle, a best-selling book about growing up in Botswana. paper. A series of workshops on AIDS awareness, marketing, and financial management for the groups, has also been carried out.

Polite Tukishi joined Mothers For All in September 2009 as one of the Semolale Mothers For All group – the last group that was trained under the Barclays grant. Semolale is located close to the border of Zimbabwe and South Africa. The group in Semolale consists of 6 young mothers, several who have lost their own parents, are HIV + themselves and are looking after two or more children. All of the Semolale mothers have not completed high school. Polite joined Mothers For All when she was 28. She has lost both her parents and was looking after two of her sister’s children as well as one of her own. She lived with another younger sister who did not work at the time. Initially, after joining Mothers For All, her income was minimul from the sales of recycled paper beads, around P200 per month but Polite persisted with making the jewellery. For about 6 months, the group did not earn a lot and so she also braided hair to subsidise her income from Mothers for All.  Occasionally she got financial help from relatives.

Today, Polite is an active Member of Mothers For All. Since mid 2010, the Semolale group has increased their production substantially and to date, these mothers are earning between P500 - P700 per month. Since the Money Matters Workshop, in November 2010 where we discussed the two new funds that we were setting up, Polite has seen how she can shift from a hopeless situation to having a brighter future. She is tracking her income and expenditure and is saving to go to school.

In 2010, Baylor’s started operating in three new villages and is now operating in 7 villages across Botswana. Every month Baylor’s reaches about 800 teens in Gaborone alone. In other centres, 30 to 50 teens attend each session.

Barclays involvement increased in 2010 as we collaborated with Baylor’s on the launch of a new publication called “Teen Talk”. This is a guide for HIV positive teenagers but the information it provides can be used by any teenager or adult.

Our finance team donated funds that they had raised to print 1000 copies of this Teen Talk guide and it was distributed across Botswana.

Barclays also worked with Baylor’s Teen Club to launch of financial literacy campaign in March 2010. This started with Barclays colleagues conducting money management sessions with HIV positive teens in each of the six villages in which Baylor’s operates.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has recognised Teen Club as a Promising Practice through its AIDS Support and Technical Assistance Resources (AIDSTAR)-One Program! AIDSTAR-One maintains a comprehensive database of good and promising programmatic practices that users can search to identify successful HIV programmes.

Furthermore ,Baylor’s Teen Club has been cited in a report released by several UN agencies including UNICEF and UN Population Fund.

It is clear, therefore, that what Baylor’s Teen Club is doing is considered replicable by some of the world’s most authoritative agencies working in the field of HIV.

And here’s why. 

We were involved in several JAB programmes: the JA Company Programme, Africa Student Company of the Year competition, and the JA Job Shadowing/Business Exposure as well as the annual JA “You can b” Camp.

In April, 300 students from several schools went for job shadowing   at a number of companies in Gaborone, Lobatse and Maun to gain exposure to the “real world” of business; inform themselves on career choices and motivate their educational, business and professional aspirations.

Later in the year, 200 students divided themselves into 13 teams to compete in the Regional Best Business Competition with some Barclays collagues involved in adjudication.  After the preliminary rounds, two teams – one from Kgalemang JSS in Serowe and another from Mater Spei College in Francistown -were chosen to compete at the Africa Region JA Company of the Year Competition in Nairobi, Kenya.

Eleven countries and thirteen companies participated in the competition. The judging process was stringent. It included adjudication based on company reports, stage presentations, team stands at a “Trade Fair” and interviews. At the end, Kgalemang CJSS’s “Shoe Supremacy” company – an innovative enterprise that produced traditional leather shoes with soles made from recycled tires – got position two in the competition

Women in the Etsha Villages weave baskets in an attempt to make a living. One of the aims of the project was to increase their capacity and income.

In 2010, the crafts women were taken through Quality Assurance Training which will assist them to penetrate different sectors of the craft industry.

Training was also provided on the planning and management of the natural resources used for the production of their baskets. Barclays colleagues provided training in money management and financial literacy.
The training sessions were followed by a Craft Exhibition in Maun which gave the weavers an opportunity to exhibit their wares to a wider audience.

The construction of craft studios where the weavers can conduct their business in relative comfort, sheltered from the elements, will be finalized in early 2011.  The craft studios provide a safe place to store their raw materials and display their finished products.

The Craft Studios will provide a place where the women can come together and weave their baskets, store their products and raw materials and provide a central point where they can sell their products.

Now in its third year, 2010 was an extremely successful year for the young entrepreneurs.

Mochudi Art Master, have been developing their range of jewellery and art products, mostly using recycled materials, focusing on both quality and diversity.  Having started with simple jewellery pieces, they have now expanded to bookmarks, keyrings and identity tags, and are currently developing designs for mobiles, windchimes and fridge magnets, all utilising, recycled paper, drink cans and food packaging.  They have also forged a relationship with Primedia and started working on methods for producing products using old billboards.  The group have sold their products at a number of high profile events, including the Christmas Craft Market and International Women’s Day, as well as a number of school fairs. 

Rocking Rhythm City Company  is an events management company. Given the growing number of participants in the programme, some young people are forming a drama group which will be performing on a regular basis.

Moreover, the Rocking Rhythm City Company (events business) has been working on leveraging donations for their inner beauty contest including both youth and grandmothers. Through this event the youth have learned how to write letters and approach sponsors. They have learned how to plan, sequencing and what is necessary in events management.

Rock Da World Entertainment

The movie company has struggled showing movies at SSI so the business has taken another approach. They are taking the movies to the schools and sharing the profits with the schools however the numbers have doubled and in some cases tripled. It also allows more youth to enjoy the movies and supports the schools. The company is working out their systems of managing the money as we want to avoid any potential corruption with the schools in managing funds.

Hungry Hippos Super Snacks

The Hungry Hippo Super Snacks have been extremely busy this year, catering for trainings conducted by Botswana Harvard Partnership and the Welwarts (German Development organisation).  When SSI conducted its training for Aunties and Uncles and peer education, the Hungry Hippos were hired to cater for the event. The youth have learned how to handle the stock inventory and accounts.

Finally, the success of the four businesses has led to the establishment of The United Ladies a business managed by the caregivers. The establishment of this company has allowed women who do not have an income to assist their families. One woman who had no previous income and has been suffering from abuse was hired to train the other ladies how to sew. Now the ladies are sewing and selling traditional clothing and uniforms for schools.