Village Lights and Village Gardens projects

At Red Carnation Hotels, we believe we have a responsibility to our local communities, and we strive to make a positive impact on the communities that our hotels inhabit. Our link with the TreadRight Foundation places a great deal of emphasis on this responsibility. The coaching conservation work Wild Entrust carries out in association with the TreadRight Foundation has never been more important; particularly given the current global situation and the impact the loss of tourism income due to Covid-19 has had on local communities such as Habu Village in Botswana.  

Picture by Joe Kangootui 

In November, the Village Greens project continued, and plenty of activity took place, with the aim of improving the village garden. A garden watchman and maintenance hand was hired, Mr Hange, and with his help we’ve been able to fix leaks in the garden’s pipe system - significantly reducing water losses. Mr Hange also helped to prepare seed beds for planting and coordinate access and allocation of water from the garden borehole. We've also been able to help purchase a generator to maintain water supplies.

Picture by Joe Kangootui 

In addition to this, our Xigera Head Safari Guide, Ikalaheng Mogalakwe, met with CoEx staff and offered the supply of some used gum poles from the Lodge to help fence off the farm - a new project for 2022.

The Village Lights project's aim for November was to establish a culture of reading within the community of Habu, introducing the children living in the village to the idea of reading for fun. Each week, Standard 5 and Standard 6 level students have been taking part in a book club session with a mentor from Wild Entrust and their teacher.

The first book the students read was the affirmations book I Am Because I Am written by Abigail Mwikisa, a young Motswana lady. After they’d read the book, the children wrote their own affirmations as an activity, which was a great success. The second book on their schedule is called The Two Kingdoms, a Botswana legend about the origins of day and night, written by local writer Bontekanye Botumile. There certainly is a great need for this project and we are incredibly proud to be supporting these crucial initiatives here at Xigera Safari Lodge.  

To learn more about our partnership with Wild Entrust visit our community outreach page.