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Unpacking Ski Foundation’s Breath Of Life campaign
Mogomotsi Goms Kaboemodimo is the CEO of SKI Foundation, an experienced former public servant, and the father of three sons and one daughter. He maintains his gratitude for 58 years of an eventful life, relatively good health, and the support and kindness of many friends to him and his family. Educated in Botswana, Zambia, Canada, and the United Kingdom (UK) respectively, he is the holder of an M.A; BAA; and a Post Graduate Certificate.
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My role as CEO is to drive the mandate and objectives of the Foundation and to facilitate the Board of Trustees in their oversight of the Foundation. It is my duty also to link the Foundation with its local “ and world-wide network of contributors, partners and volunteers who support the aims and the objectives of the Foundation. At the administrative level it is my responsibility to project the Foundation in the public space, to run an efficient office, and to do ensure that the Foundation complies with the relevant laws of Botswana that govern the operations of Trusts,” he said. The SKI Foundation recently embarked on a flagship Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative dubbed the Breath of Life appeal, aimed at cushioning communities against Covid-19 impacts. Leveraging his experience in senior ranking roles in the public and private sector Kaboemodimo today runs the newly created NGO foundation, launched by the Former President of Botswana Dr Ian Khama, who is a renowned philanthropist in different pillars of society. Kaboemodimo asserts that SKI Foundation’s efforts are channeled towards promoting and improving the livelihoods of Batswana through such initiatives as conservation, tourism, promotion of democracy and construction of destitute housing. The organization also supports cultural expres-
Mogomotsi Goms Kaboemodimo,
sion, youth and women empowerment and other charitable programmes benefiting communities.
THE BREATH OF LIFE CAMPAIGN “The campaign’s launch in July 2021 coincided with the hardest phase of the Covid 19 pandemic in Botswana, which was characterized by heightened loss of many lives in the country. In that context we launched the ‘Breath of Life’ appeal in August 2021 where we
reached out to Batswana all over the world to help in the fight against the pandemic. There was an acute shortage or total lack of oxygen concentrators in both government and private hospitals and clinics. This was a real tragedy as it robbed the countries of both young and adult lives,” Kaboemodimo states when speaking on what prompted the creation of the campaign.
The Breath of Life appeal yielded very positive results as Batswana across the length and breadth of the country poured their hearts out to help save the lives of fellow citizens through cash and material donations, donations of which were handed over to various health facilities caring for patients afflicted by the COVID-19 virus. The latest such outreach took place in Serowe and Boteti regions where in addition to the Breath of Life Appeal, efforts by SKI Foundation were able to secure doses of vaccines that were in acute shortage in the country.
HOUSING THE COMMUNITIES SKI Foundation’s efforts to enhance the wellbeing of community members remain impactful, with the organization still able to deliver homes under the destitute housing programme that started in 2010 during the term of office of President Khama.
“We handed over a fully furnished house in October to an underprivileged family in Old Naledi. This brings to eight hundred and forty-nine (849) the number of homes yielded by the housing appeal programme since 2010 when it was started,” says Kaboemodimo.
“We continue to receive an overwhelming volume of requests from Batswana for livelihood assistance encompassing skills development, educational funding, start-up business support and poverty relief. For that reason, we continue to appeal to all willing contributors to assist the Foundation in meeting this diversity of needs. While it is not possible to accommodate all the requests, we thank donors and contributors that are coming through to lend a helping hand and we encourage others to engage with the Foundation as well for the benefit of our citizens,” he stated.
MOTIVATED TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE Kaboemomdimo indicates that they believe the future offers hope for Botswana as far as the socio-economic community empowerment programmes pursued by the Foundation are concerned.
“We remain focused on helping to improve the livelihoods of Batswana through our flagship programmes. Therefore, all our activities are publicized for Batswana to judge for themselves, and to have the opportunity to make any contribution they may wish to in these efforts,” he stressed.
The SKI Foundation Founding Chief Executive Officer added: “The needs of our citizens are diverse and complex but achievable. The resolve to achieve a better life for all is solid, as is the good will and the support of our contributors. The Foundation believes in the positive character of Batswana when it comes to charitable causes. With this background the Foundation seeks to accelerate the key projects under various objectives.”
