Botswana: The First National Bank Botswana (FNBB) Foundation officially handed over an aquaponics project to Gaborone Women’s Prison, as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility initiative.
The initiative seeks to empower women in Prison with sustainable skills and opportunities for self-sufficiency, nurturing growth even within the confines of their incarceration.
Giving her handing over speech, the Chairperson of FNB Botswana Foundation, Myrah Sekgororoane, expressed her delight at the completion of the project as it marked another successful collaboration between FNBB and Botswana Prison NService.
Sekgororoane said the FNBB Foundation had invested P225,251.80 in the project through the three FNBB branches, roping their financial allotments together to implement a meaningful project. This legacy project has far-reaching effects and sustainability for intended recipients.
She emphasized that the project is a brainchild of three female Branch Managers from Riverwalk, Industrial and First Place who chose to support fellow women from Prison in an endeavour to better their lives post-incarceration.
“𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘦𝘳, 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴’ 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺,” she said.
On giving his acceptance speech, Deputy Commissioner Anthony Mokento expressed gratitude on behalf of the Prison Service to receive yet another special donation from one of its key stakeholders. He stated that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity that must be recognized in a special way.
Deputy Commissioner Mokento said Aquaponics is a labour-saving technique, saving traditional agriculture work such as ploughing, tilling and digging, and is therefore appropriate for all genders and many age groups.
In addition, he said aquaponics systems can be located inside the home, thereby providing a secure means of income generation and nutritional security, as well as offering an opportunity for income-generating activities.
“𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘉𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘰𝘵𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘧𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘍𝘕𝘉𝘉 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 4𝘵𝘩 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘙𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 3 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘙𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮 𝘈𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢,” he said.
This is the second donation by the Bank to the Botswana Prison Service in the space of three months. In September, the Service received a donation of information technology equipment valued at P76 689.50 comprising of twenty-five desktop computers, classroom equipment and educational materials from FNB Botswana.