Ker & Downey has been providing great safari experiences to their guests for years now, highlighting the beauty of Botswana and helping to turn into a go to tourist destination. The company has also committed itself to preserving the natural environment of Botswana as well as developing the social and economic status of the communities here.

In line with this vision, Ker & Downey (KDB) adopted Mathiba I Memorial School in 2018, signing a Memorandum of Understanding in which they have pledged to support the school for 5years, providing much needed financial assistance in certain areas that would help the school to succeed. The company has provided the school with a high capacity printer and textbooks to aid the teaching staff in their lessons and ensure the children have all the necessary materials to pass their exams. The help provided by Ker & Downey is already yielding fruits with the pass rate of the school having increased by 50% and the Primary School Leaving Examinations Pass rate in 2019 at 75%. The company has also provided Porter cabin classrooms that are being used to house the preschool. This means Mathiba I Memorial School has an advantage of grooming their students from a very young age and will ensure an even higher pass rate for the school.

The relationship Ker & Downey shares with Mathiba is a long term one as the company values tomorrow’s leaders and has committed to invested to investing in their future. The company has plans to build an assembly area for the school, however these have disrupted by the COVID19 Pandemic that has currently crippled the Tourism industry. The KDB team did not let this deter them from showing their commitment to the school and found it necessary to cement this by hosting Motivational Talks for the Standard 7 pupils who will be sitting for their Primary School Leaving Exams. Mr MC Odumetse, Miss Kelly Modise, Mr Thuso Rasegojwa and Mr John Gibson, took a moment to talk to the students about the importance of education and the role it plays in their future. When speaking to the children Mr MC Odumetse, a Director at KDB, asked them to focus on their education as it would ensure success for them. MC, who was a student at Mathiba over 20 years ago, went on describe how challenges such as a lack of full school uniform, lack of electricity in the home and generally a simple homelife  did not deter him from his goals of becoming successful. He encouraged the students to not let distractions get the better of them, “ Stop comparing yourself to others, if your classmate has a tv at home and you do not, then work hard and buy your own tv. Do not use what you don’t have as an excuse for failure”, he said.

Mr Thuso Rasegojwa also had some inspiring words for the children as he highlighted that the Tourism industry had a wide range of opportunities for everyone who is interested. He explained that Ker & Downey is a great company to work for as there are many opportunities to grow within the company, starting from being a junior employee to being in a senior management position, like he plans to one day to become a Director. The students and teachers were happy and excited to have an opportunity to interact with the KDB and have a glimpse into the tourism industry. The Vice Principal thanked Ker & Downey for their continued support and was happy to know the relationship with the company would continue through all they were being faced with.

For more information on Ker & Downey please visit their website at https://www.kerdowneybotswana.com/ and help them support initiatives such as this one.