North West Tourism celebrates legacy of Nelson Mandela’

Officials of the North West Department of Tourism joined the world in celebrating the legacy of Nelson Mandela by spending a day with the elderly people of Areka Old Age Home & Hospice in Motswedi outside Zeerust in the Ramotshere Moiloa Municipality. Officials cooked for the elderly using groceries that they paid for and further donated toiletries and cleaning material. Expressing her overall impression, Head of Department Adv. Neo Sephoti said that, this act of selflessness epitomizes what commemorating Nelson Mandela is all about.

She said that she was impressed that officials saw it fit to contribute from their own pockets. “We want to show that we appreciate our elders while they are still alive. We would also would like to encourage the younger generation to respect elders because without them we are nothing.

We have arranged for today that, you sit back and let us do all the work. This is what we would like to do occasionally because it should not end here. Each and every one of us must make sure we come back here and continue with what we have started today.

Where we come from and how we were raised should be a reminder of why we should do these things regularly,” said Adv. Sephoti. “Sejo sennye ga se fete molomo, we are here to share the little that we have with the elderly people of Areka Old Age Home & Hospice. I am really proud of my team. I really appreciate them for doing what they did, their generosity has really touched me”, added Adv. Neo Sephoti.

Mary Dolmartzis (78) from Gopane Village, less than ten Kilometers from Areka Old Age Home & Hospice is one of the elders who has been living at the center for some time. The mother of one, says being away from family is difficult to get used to but having visitors is comforting. “It is exciting to see so many people here today, it gets lonely sometimes and there is not much to do. However today we are happy to see visitors and the things they have brought for us,” said Dolmartzis.

Meanwhile, Chairperson of the Areka Old Age Home & Hospice Board of Directors, Mazulu Motona said that they were happy to have the North West Department of Tourism visit them. He said that it was the first department to visit the center ever since its establishment. “We thought that we were forgotten but today we are happy and grateful for the items they have brought for us, this will make the elders very happy,” Motona said.

According to Motona there’s a lot that goes into taking care of elders on a daily basis. He said the donations will go a long way in making day to day operations at the center easier. “For instance the food prepared for the day and some of the favorite things we have received means a lot to them.

They will also appreciate toiletries and cleaning material which will make a difference. That means at the end of the month we would have very little gaps to fill. It is very important to focus on old people. They are our ancestors and anything that we do for them makes us happy, even today I know many will go home fulfilled,” added Motona.

Deputy Director for Strategic Planning, Mavis Nels who was part of the North West Tourism team said she felt honoured to be there. “We are doing this in honour of Nelson Mandela’s legacy but over and above that I personally feel that we should do this more often.

I also wish that I could do more in my everyday life but I am overly impressed by my colleagues who heeded the call for donations, they really out did themselves by sharing the little they have with the elderly people. This epitomizes the saying that ‘sharing is indeed caring’,” said Nels.