The Kalayakgosi Foundation Trust is a registered organization in terms of Section 7(1) of the Trust Property Control Act No. 11 of 2018 with a Trust No: TUHFT – 000011-21 on May 11th 2021. Kalayakgosi Foundation Trust is a brainchild of Mr Barongwa Jonathan Kalayakgosi , a retired soldier, who served the Botswana Defence Force for 24 years 1980 – to 2004. During his service he underwent various courses and also was deployed on a foreign mission to Somalia, his passion for charity is derived and driven by his past work experience as he was trained to offer care and support for children under the age of 5 and expectant mothers.

Mr Kalayakgosi ventured into business after his retirement, of which he continued to serve the community and exercise his social responsibility by giving back to the community, among his beneficiaries, he assisted;

i) – School drop out
ii) – Less Privileged children
iii) – Out of School Continuity Program

When it was understood that the foundation trust could only do so much for conservation in the course of its day- to-day activities and needed a dedicated vehicle to take matters further. In 2007 Mr BJ Kalayakgosi funded the start-up, rented an office, furnished the office and procured a vehicle for the project (Toyota Hilux 2.7). Upon its inception KFT started its operations with the services of two (2) gradutes and seven (7) volunteer between the years of 2007 to 2010. Accordingly, it was decided that an independent entity that facilitated fundraising there came Sexhebe Guesthouse and the disbursement of the monies to deserving overall conservation projects would mean that, both directly and indirectly, Kalayakgosi Foundation Trust could reach more people, wildlife and places.
The relationship between Barkan Holdings, and Kalayakgosi Foundation Trust is therefore symbiotic in supporting projects financially. Barkan Travel and also contributes through logistics and in-kind support (e.g., equipment, manpower, fuel, vehicle servicing, access and accommodation) to ensure the enhanced viability of the work. On the other hand, the fact that the Trust is independent also means that it is able to engage with projects beyond the geographic scope of Barkan Travel and Tours to ensure that conservation is the driving force.

Kalayakgosi Foundation Trust is fully aware of conservation of flora and fauna is limited as long as the people who live in the vicinity are unconvinced or left out of the process. The better we understand a species and its environment, the more efficiently we’ll be able to protect it in a world where the struggle for space becomes paramount and human-animal interactions become increasingly conflicted. Most of the Trust’s projects have this as an ultimate objective.