A YA 2026 Capstone Project turning community concern about dry-season water shortages into practical ponds for both elephants and people.
Metsi a Ditlou was developed as a YA 2026 Capstone Project, focused on creating a practical response to human-elephant conflict in Botswana's Okavango region.
Rather than treating elephants and communities as opposing sides, the project addresses the resource they are both competing for — water — and proposes a shared, sustainable solution.
YA 2026 CapstoneHappy Puseletso Mbambo is from Botswana and a student at Shakawe Senior Secondary School. She was selected by the U.S. Embassy in Gaborone — alongside six fellow students and one teacher — for the U.S. Department of State's Youth Ambassadors (YA-AF) programme, a fully funded leadership exchange to the United States.
During three weeks in the U.S., she trained in community civic engagement, public leadership, and participatory democracy. She returned to Botswana in August 2026 determined to apply what she had learned to her own community.
Metsi a Ditlou is the result — a youth-led, community-owned project that turns local concern about dry-season water shortages into practical ponds for both elephants and people.
This Capstone turns community concern about dry-season water shortages into practical ponds for both elephants and people.Metsi a Ditlou · Project Philosophy
Metsi a Ditlou is designed to be delivered with local and institutional partners.
Metsi a Ditlou's website and online presence were designed and built pro bono by BlueWave Digital as an in-kind contribution to the project — helping a youth-led conservation effort reach supporters and partners it could not otherwise afford to reach.
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