JDS Sponsors Makgadikgadi Community Junior Secondary School Career Expo
Aligned with our commitment to supporting the local and First Nation communities where we live and work in, JDS was proud to sponsor a Career Expo at the Makgadikgadi Community Junior Secondary School on Friday, July 7, 2023. The career expo is part of a number of community-driven ESG initiatives taking place in Lethalkane, Botswana, the village near the Lucara’s Karowe Mine, which focused around education, food security and technology.
The objectives for the career expo were to:
- Educate students about STEM
- Introduce the career opportunities in STEM, in particular the mining industry
The initiative was led by JDS ESG Consultant, Toto Isabella Gaobinelwe, who has been with JDS since February 2023, and has strong relationships with local schools and grassroots organizations. The expo was held for Grade 10 students in preparation for Senior School and to expose them to future opportunities after their formal education ends. Makgadikgadi CJSS is a junior boarding school in the Boteti Region in Mosu village. The school mostly accommodates under privileged or disadvantaged students from the neighboring villages, which are in the far outskirts. Many of the students have not been outside their area or to the neighboring cities/towns, and the expo was an opportunity for them to meet stakeholders and individuals from different careers, fields and backgrounds.
The theme of the expo was: Be Future Ready: Head Start Your Career Journey and Choose the Right Path. As the guest of honour representing JDS and guest speaker for the event, Isabella highlighted the value of education, job readiness skills and techniques, the top job opportunities in the future and STEM in relation to the engineering and mining work JDS does in Botswana at the Karowe Mine. The students also presented their STEM projects, which were live working models made from scratch, as a token of appreciation to JDS for introducing them to STEM and sponsoring the career expo. It was inspiring to see the students creativity and curiosity reflected through these projects.
STEM Project 1: Solar Energy House Model
Problem Statement: Mosu Village is located in the outskirts of the region, and has challenges with electricity and power supply
Solution: Students made a house which was powered by solar energy
STEM Project 2: Electric Car
Problem Statement: Students identified the lack of money in their home to buy toys for the children, which results in boredom within the family
Solution: To make an electric car using the materials that are available in the village
