The Nations Pride

Oabile Kago Moji
Campus: LUCT

Hi bloggers,

 Im pretty late to the platform.but i shall make the most of it!

My internship was in Botswana,Africa,at the ministry of Youth Sport and Culture.I worked under the department of Public Relations,communicartion and Public Education.My internship began on the 5th of January and ended on the 24th  January 2012,yes 4  awesome weeks!

The function of this ministry as the name implies is responsible for facilitating and coordinating,matters concerning the youth,sport and culture of the entire country.

In the month of my internship,the entire continent of Africa was buzzing because of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Football tournaments.But for Botswana,the buzzing went haywire,because it was the first time in the history of the country to qualify for the tournament ever!.So you can imagne the excitement that hovered the country because of this acheivment.

The Ministry of Youth Sport and Culture was therefore responsible for triggering and fueling patriotism on the citizens for the national team,through various incentives such as,sending out encouragement messages to the team in newspapers,billboards and commercials both on tv and radio.All this was done by my deaprtment

In addition to that the PR department would meet weekly to discuss progress regarding the Zebras games,and preparations,media reports and how we could involve the Nation during the games.So The ministry and The National teams sponsors created fan parks where all the Zebras fans could go and watch  broadcaster games of their Nations pride  playing

Another incentive we came up with was something called "Zebras Friday" This meant that the entire country was expected to put on the Zebras national team replica jerseys every Friday until the entire tournament is over.

       The Ministry of Youth Sport and culture PR dept. Zebras AFCON qualification celebration and meeting

                            This is me on a "ZEBRAS FRIDAY" at work fully dressed in my replica!

 Fans at one of the Fan Parks in one of the fan parks in the city dancing and chanting for encouraging the team

                                                  The Fan Park In Gaborone,Gamecity

Amongst other things,my deparment was responsible  for seeking sponsorship for the National team which qualified for the games.Sponsorship for ,food,aid, accommodation and their general welfare at the host country Gabon.

So we liased with one of the leading cell phone networks in the country called ORANGE,to organise farewell programmes,fan parks and national broadcasts of the tournament.

The Minister of youth sport and culture Shaw Kgathi and  Botswana National Sport Council chair man Solly 

Reikeletseng

Working with this ministry was so much fun,there are other general youth and culture affairs which we dealt with during my time there,but the focus then was on AFCON 2012.

See you at my next post!!