The Scotish Livingstone Memorial hospital, Botswana

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The Gaborone to Kanye road crosses the Kolobeng River 40km from Gaborone. Immediately after the bridge, on the left, is a short dirt road to the Livingstone Memorial and the ruins of David Livingstone's house and mission, built in 1840s.
During Livingstone's early years in southern Africa (1840-1852), he set himself the task of establishing a mission station in Bechuanaland. In 1843 he camped at the village of the Bakwena Paramount Chief Sechele's and befriended him. Sechele told Livingstone of the "great thirst land" beyond - the Kalahari - and a lake in the northern reaches of Tswana territories - Lake Ngami.
The well-known British explorer and missionary, married Mary Moffat, daughter of Robert Moffat who built the IMS mission at Kuruman. Throughout his 40 years of travel through Africa, Livingstone covered approximately 50,000km, charted over a million miles of African territory, traced the course of the Zambezi River, mapped the Central African river system, and mounted expeditions which led to him becoming the first white man to see Victoria Falls, Lake Ngami, Lake Nyasa and the Shire Highlands.
During their years in Bechuanaland, Livingstone and his wife Mary, built houses at Mabotsa, Chonuane and later at Kolobeng. They lived at Kolobeng between 1847 and 1852. One reason for choosing to live at Kolobeng was because of a belief that the Kolobeng River would never dry up and the missionaries needed a constant supply of water to enable them to cultivate crops.

It was at Kolobeng in 1848 that Livingstone converted the first Motswana to Christianity - Kgosi Sechele I, the great Chief of the Bakwena tribe. Among the rules laid down for Sechele's baptism was that he no longer participate in any "heathen" ceremonies such as rain-making and that he renounce all his wives but one. These rules caused a great deal of trouble amongst the tribes people, many of whom blamed Livingstone's influence for the terrible drought which resulted when the Kolobeng River dried up later in 1848 and caused the death of many animals and people. Livingstone was also blamed for the very difficult situation that Sechele's rejected wives found themselves in through no fault of their own.

Livingstone's daughter Elizabeth is buried at Kolobeng but the house and temporary mission church that once stood there was destroyed by a Boer raiding party. The Boers blamed Livingstone for their problems with the Bakwena because Livingstone allowed the Bakwena to have guns.

The remains of the house where Livingstone lived with his family are now protected and are better preserved than the Church. The Church was a temporary building and has very little remains left. Apparently Dr. Shepherd, who worked as a missionary doctor at the Scottish Livingstone Hospital in Molepolole, put a fence around the remains of Livingstone's house in 1935 and this protected it from further destruction.

At that time the significance of the church was not realised but has now been fenced to prevent further deterioration. The church was also the first school and the site of the first irrigation project. The foundations of these buildings can still be seen, as can the graves of Livingstone's daughter Elizabeth and the artist Thomas Dolman, both buried on the banks of the Kolobeng River.

When Livingstone and his family left Kolobeng they never again lived united as a family. Mary and her children returned to England and Livingstone gradually became more of an explorer than a missionary and lived his life as such. More info on: www.botswana-tourism.gov.bw

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