CORRECTION: Adds ‘over’ to second sentence to reflect amount donated more accurately and changes amount donated by individuals and businesses to N.dollars 32 470.

RUNDU, 20 JUL (NAMPA) – Coach Henk Botha of sprinters Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi said they are humbled by the donation received from the Kavango East Regional Council in preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games taking place in Japan from 25 July to 08 August.

Botha told Nampa in an interview on Tuesday the donation of over N.dollars 52 000 will be used towards their travel and personal expenses.

“They are blessed and humbled by this donation as the sport is taking so much out of our pockets. The girls need to travel and at the same time also take care of their personal lives,” he said.

Last month the regional leadership committed N.dollars 20 000, while a technical committee chaired by Education Director Fanuel Kapapero was established to lobby for more support from individuals and the business community.

Individuals and businesses made cash donations to the tune of N.dollars 32 470.

Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR) offered two vouchers worth N.dollars 30 000 each to the athletes to visit any of their resorts in the country.

Botha also received a voucher worth N.dollars 15 000 from NWR.

These donations were officially handed over to the athletes last Friday by the Governor of the Kavango East Region Bonny Wakudumo in their absence.

Botha said Mboma and Masilingi were officially invited to the handing over of the donations, but could not make it as they had events to attend in Windhoek.

He said they also want to avoid attending too many events due to COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the coach said the two athletes had an excellent training session Monday evening and are in high spirits to go and represent Namibia in Tokyo.

They are expected to depart for Tokyo on Thursday.

Source: Namibia Press Agency