Local Heros - Meet Kabelo Sebati, Lead Yoga Teacher in Botswana
Kabelo has been an invaluable supporter of World Spine Care’s Yoga Project in Botswana. He has assisted the Yoga Project with real-time translation and cultural learning, and he has helped to keep up the enthusiasm for the Yoga Project in the region.
Kabelo was also fundamental in the support of the WSC Botswana Spine Conference in 2018, assisting the Yoga Project team in workshops and in getting local medical professionals from outside Gabarone to the conference. Since 2018, he has helped the continued success of the Yoga Project and acts as a support for the Yoga Project teachers in the villages of Shoshong and in Mahalapye. He has recently restarted the Mahalapye program to great success.
World Spine Care reached out to Kabelo, to learn a little bit more about his journey into the Yoga Project, and what drives him:
WSC: Tell us a little bit about yourself? What are you passionate about?
KS: My passion since from a young age was to help people -especially those who were sick. Originally, I wanted to do general nursing but, unfortunately, I did not have the grades to make that happen. Instead, I completed a Healthcare Assistant Certificate, and then later I received a diploma in Healthcare Management.
WSC: How did you first learn about World Spine Care? What made you want to get involved?
KS: I have been working for the Botswana Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW). As an employee of the MOH, I was posted to World Spine Care’sclinic in Shoshong in2016 in the position of Healthcare Assistant. Through my connection to WorldSpine Care, I learned about the World Spine Care Yoga Project and knew that I wanted to get involved.
WSC: How has the World Spine Care project improved lives in Botswana? What impact do you see in the community, if any?
KS: I trained to be a yoga teacher for Levels 1 & 2 in 2018 so that I could help to lead the Yoga Project. I have seen firsthand how yoga can help. It has helped me as well as those clients who participate in the program. They praise it without hesitation, and they say it has helped to strengthen their weak muscles and they are not tense as before.
WSC: What is your hope for the future of the World Spine Care Yoga Project?
KS: I see the Yoga Project growing and even expanding to other World Spine Care clinics in Botswana – and maybe even beyond! I hope to see more teachers being brought in to support the program, the way that I do. As for me? I want to learn more about Yoga, and helping to support our clients because that’s the one of things that I find pride and joy in.
On behalf of all of us at World Spine Care, and the World Spine Care Yoga Project, we wish to thank Kabelo for his dedication to this project! To learn more about the Yoga Project, click here or visit the Yoga Project YouTube channel.
