Profile on Botswana
Warm up
1 What do you know about Botswana? Choose the correct answers to complete the fact file. Then check your answers with your classmates.
Location: southern Africa / northern Africa
Capital City: Gaborone / Francistown
Population: 2 million / 20 million
Currency: pound / pula
National symbol: giraffe / zebra
Official languages: English and Setswana / African Motto: rain / sun
Botswana: Africa’s longest continuous democracy
2 Thato, a young exchange student from Botswana, has prepared a presentation to give at the High School where he is studying. Put the slides he prepared in the correct order.
a 1860s - Europeans looking for gold arrive in Botswana.
b 1961 - He starts a nationalist party.
c 1921 - Sereste Khama is born.
d 7 1966 - Botswana gets independence from Britain. Sereste Khama is first President.
e 1951: British government exiles him from his home country after he marries a white women.
f Since then Botswana becomes an example of a successful move to democracy and equality.
g 4 He becomes chief of his tribe when four years old.
h 1888-1966: Britain rules Botswana.
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Country Profile
Class activity
3 Work in small groups and prepare a short presentation to give to your class about a period of history in your country. Make slides on a computer or on individual pieces of A4 paper.
Don't judge* a book by its coverº
The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency , set in Gaborone, is a series of novels by Alexander McCall Smith about the adventures of Mma Precious Ramotswe. She is Botswana’s only female detective. In fact one of the themes of the novels is women in traditional and nontraditional jobs. The books have sold millions of copies all over the world. Recently the publishing company changed the covers of the books. Lots of the readers did not like the new covers.
Over to you
4 Which cover do you prefer; the original one on the right or the new one on the left? Why?
Diamonds
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Did you know...?
Botswana is the least corrupt country in Africa.
produce blood diamonds and has used its natural resource well, the
In many countries young children work in mines in terrible conditions, and in some countries, people mine and sell diamonds to pay for wars. These diamonds are called ‘blood diamonds’. However, in Botswana diamonds are not mined in this way. And because Botswana does not produce blood diamonds and has used its natural resource well, the diamond industry has helped Botswana’s economy to grow very quickly. In fact, Botswana makes more money from producing diamonds than any other country in the world.
Words to remember
chores: lavori domestici judge: giudicare rude: maleducati wayward: capricciosi, ostinati
Reading and speaking
5 Read the BBC TV programme description below. Would you like to be one of the teenagers in the TV programme? Why / Why not?
In the TV programme The World’s Strictest Parents, two wayward* British teenagers experience strict family rules in Botswana. For a week they stay with the Selelos, a middle-class Botswana host family who live in Gaborone. For this family respect is essential and strict rules are essential. Dad Michael is in the army and mum Marianyana is a nurse. The teens must get up at 5.00 a.m., help with chores*, complete their homework every night and wash the elders’ hands before every meal. They must also visit the local tribe chief who can punish children with beatings if they are rude* in the home.
A2 2 Equality and Democracy