This week I visited the Mmankgodi Village in Botswana. The people of Mmankgodi are called the Bahurutshe, a group also found in the village of Manyana. The animal totem of the Bahurutshe people is a baboon. In Botswana, villages have totems that are animals. It is forbidden to kill whichever animal is your totem.
I learned that this community needs a lot of natural resources, such as fresh water and wood.
The community needs wood for many different reasons. For one, wood is used to build their homes. Since they live on the outskirts of the city, the government regulates how much wood they can use. Because of this limitation, some of the community needs are not met. This community also needs fresh water. In the village, access to clean, running water can become a challenge. Water is essential for the community's health and for the animals they raise.
Currently, the government is working to find the appropriate amount of natural resources that can be given to each village. Until that decision is met, the village relies on recycling wood from within the village and using water filtering systems.
