One Man, One Beast – Creating the U of Botswana

In the 1970’s, the nation of Botswana, at the time one of the poorest in the world, was struggling to develop their national university. A fund-raising campaign called One Man, One Beast, was started to raise the money necessary to fully launch the university. Every family in Botswana was asked to contribute anything they could, including cash, cattle, grain, eggs – literally anything! It took several years, but by 1982 the university was established. Today it’s a large, modern, beautiful campus, one of which any nation would be proud. The One Man, One Beast campaign is immortalized in this statue that stands outside the university library.

The One Man, One Beast statue at the University of Botswana. Seated are some students, several of whom had grandparents who gave cattle to help start the university.