Structure of stand-alone centres

All “stand-alone” centres operated from rented space within a larger compound that had other structures that were used for other activities. The compound may be rented out for the family‟s economic gains or to support the predominantly extended nature village was characterised by such compounds which is also a common pattern in most villages in Botswana.

Three of the stand-alone centres, Jeirah Internet Café, Ga-Mosotho Investment and Frazer‟s Studio operated from rented stand-alone rooms within larger compounds. The only unique case was Photozone Studio which operated from a porta cabin similar to the Kitsong Centres under the Nteletsa II Rural Connectivity Project. The picture below is of Photozone Studio followed by one of the just noted Kitsong Centres.

Jaira Internet Cafe

3 G Holdings Photozone Studio Frazer's Studio Ga Mosotho Investment

Stand-

alone

centres

Embeded

Centres

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Photograph 2: Photozone Studio

The suitcase left by the door belongs to a user who was from neighbouring villages. A community member is waiting for services outside because all the chairs in the centre are occupied.

In the picture below, the researcher stands in front of the Kitsong Centre at Goo Nku. There were no users at the time of visit. This was a contrast to Kaudwane case (Photo 9) where there was a line of users waiting to collect their recharged mobile phones. Jeirah IInternet Café operated from a rented two roomed house within the same compound as Photozone Studio. In the same compound, there were other smaller stand-alone structures that were rented out by different individuals for residential or business purposes. For example, one of the structures was used as a hair and beauty salon while another was a general dealer

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Photo 3: Kitsong Centre at Goo Nku

Photozone Studio centre was very visible and strategically located towards the gate of the compound. It was a stark contrast of Jeirah Internet Café which as just noted was a structure with two rooms that did not look very attractive and had no signage. These two rooms were more like a kitchen and a walk-in pantry. All the services at this centre were

offered from the “pantry like” room which was at the back. The users therefore had to walk through the empty bigger room to the smaller one that served as the service point. Even though the owner of Jeirah Internet Café regretted the set up, she took consolation in the fact that the structure would be accommodative of future growth. One of the regular users of this centre, an expatriate professional, expressed concern that the space was not conducive for the business and was not likely to attract customers. Both this participant and the owner of the centre indicated in separate interviews that the choice of the structure was based on the rental charges that the owner could afford. It was not clear how much the owner paid for the space.

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Ga-Mosotho Investment centre also operated from a similar rented out single room in a compound that had four other stand-alone structures of different sizes. All the other three structures in this compound were used for residential purposes. Although this centre did not have good signage, it had the advantage of being along the main road to the Rural Administrative Centre, where the community got most social services. The centre was also situated at the entrance of the compound where it was easily accessible and had the door facing the main road. It was therefore visible as an ICT public access centre for people passing along the main road.

The structure that Frazer‟s Photo Studio operated from was a single room detached from the main building that had a grocery store, a dress maker and an animal feed outlet. Although this centre also did not have good visible signage, informal discussions with people from the grocery store revealed that they were aware of its services. The grocery store was one of the busy stores in the village because it served as one of the distribution outlets of the different social safety food baskets. Informal discussions with the women who had just collected their groceries from this store showed that they used the centre for photocopying and taking passport size photos.

Photo 6 below shows some community members after collecting their food rations from the grocery store in the same compound as Frazer‟s Photo Studio.

Although the infomidiary at this centre did not disclose how much he paid for rental, he pointed out that it was affordable and that the owners of the compound were very supportive to his business. The researcher learned from the infomidiary that the owners of the compound allowed him to use the fax at their shop for free. The landlord also did not get the infomidiary to pay for the services of the security guard and for both water and electricity.

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Photograph 4: Some community members and their grocery baskets

Another stand-alone centre, 3G Holdings, was located within a compound that had a restaurant and a general dealer. It was the only stand-alone centre hat operated from a purpose built retail outlet. The centre‟s strategic location rendered it more as an extended reprographic department for the Rural Administration Centre (RAC). The infomidiary at the centre noted that at times some users failed to understand why they had to pay for the services offered at this centre because they mistook it for being part of the RAC offices.