Botho and Compassion Brought to Life as BIHL Trust Builds Hone for Kanye Resident

GABORONE – BIHL Group employees have worked with the BIHL Trust to bring to life the true spirit of compassion and botho by supporting a former colleague who has since come under hard times. The Trust on Friday 29th April 2016 handed over a fully developed house in Kanye to Banabotlhe Hetolang, a 45-year-old single mother, who lost her sight shortly after leaving the BIHL family.

The BIHL Sports & Social Club, of which Hetolang was a passionate member, identified the need to support their fellow colleague and friend a number of years ago. Each year, the Club helps Hetolang through provision of groceries and other basic foodstuffs to ease the financial constraints on the family. Hetolang, to date, resides with her elderly mother and siblings. Her loss of sight has only made this more difficult. With the support of BIHL Trust and the Trust’s commitment to helping build a home for Hetolang, a year-long process of liaising with the Kanye Land Board saw Hetolang allocated a plot of land for her house and the beginning of a better future begin.

With support from BIHL Trust, the BIHL Sports & Social Club members and local community members have since aided in building Hetolang’s house by providing labour to the appointed contractor. The 2 bedroom, P120,000.00 house is now complete, ready to be made a true home for Hetolang.

“The sense of family and commitment at BIHL is admirable. It has been some time since I left the business, and yet the support and friendship has continued to date. This is an incredible and emotional day for me, to see the hard work of my former colleagues come to life as I now prepare to move into a home of my very own. I cannot begin to express how grateful I am,” said Hetolang.

Hetolang was a member of the BIHL team for more than ten years prior to her departure, with such legacies as being amongst the team that established the Lobatse branch. The new home is anticipated to go some way towards helping drive a more self-sufficient and enhanced sense of independence for Hetolang, with exploration into further support underway.   

Said BIHL Trust Administrator, Tebogo Keepetsoe, “This is a project we have been working together as a team and a family for some time now, and it is truly incredible to be able to now hand over a fully completed home to Banabotlhe. This is the very epitome of using our Strength in Numbers to help one of our own and of working together with the community to do so. At BIHL, we have a firm belief in the fact that even at individual level, we ought to be championing the values of the business and the very essence of compassion, care, and botho, towards our people. This is a celebratory time not only because the fruit of this labour has come to life, but because we have been able to help our friend and colleague in a truly meaningful way. This is what family is about.”