Our Villages

Since the AIDS crisis in southern Africa began to proliferate, Mabule and the small villages surrounding it have been devastated with a multitude of deaths of their people. In spite of several gains in providing reliable testing and free anti-retroviral medications to people infected with the AIDS virus, the need to care for at-risk, orphaned, and youth living with disabilities in the wake of this epidemic continues to grow.

Mabule village is located in the southern district-Good Hope sub-district of Botswana along the border of South Africa. It sits on the drought-stricken Molopo River that separates the native Barolong tribe from the neighboring South African Bahuruthsi tribe. It is approximately 200 kilometers from Lobatse. Both Afrikaans and Setswana are native languages in this area, and most of the younger generation and government workers not local to Mabule speak English. There are approximately 2500 people residing in the village, and there is primary school, a community junior secondary school, a health clinic that serves five neighboring villages, and several small tuck shops that serve the village. The main sources of income for the villagers is cattle rearing and vegetable production, and most of the villagers live at or below the poverty line. Parts of the village were recently wired with electricity, yet most do not receive service. Regular transportation is available on a semi-regular basis by combi, yet the untapped secondary road make transportation difficult. There are over 500 at risk and disabled youth in Mabule and the five surrounding villages: Lorolwane, Sekhutlane, Tshidilamolomo, Makgore, and Dikhukhung.