Jennifer & Christina's Trip to Botswana with Diamonds Do Good
This past April, we traveled to Botswana with Diamonds Do Good—a global nonprofit that supports and celebrates the positive impact that natural diamonds have on communities around the world, while giving back to those who live and work in natural diamond communities, and where Christina proudly serves on the board. We witnessed firsthand the power of responsibly sourced diamonds and how it shapes a nation’s future. We found an industry funding education, creating opportunity, and building infrastructure. Our trip also led us to challenge the longstanding misconception that most diamonds—particularly those from Africa—are conflict or ‘unethically’ sourced diamonds.
Welcome to Botswana
“My goal in visiting Botswana was to see firsthand the true impact of natural diamonds — the good and the bad,” Christina states. “What I discovered completely exceeded my expectations. The positive influence of natural diamonds on the community is profound, and every stereotype I’d ever heard about their harm was erased.”
“We went to Botswana with Diamonds do Good to see, with our own eyes, the impact of diamonds on the country and its people, " shares Jennifer. It’s one thing to hear or read statistics or an impact report. It’s another thing completely to go to a place, to drive down its streets, meet its people, eat the food and experience the culture.”
Botswana, a country long misunderstood as only a producer of diamonds, opened her arms to us upon arrival, not with pomp, but with pride and offered us a living illustration of how responsible mining can fund schools, hospitals, conservation, and opportunity.
It greets visitors with a quiet confidence. It’s a country that knows exactly who it is—built on steady governance, long-term vision, and an unshakable belief in its people. When diamonds were first discovered here in 1973, Botswana made a pivotal decision: to keep control of its resources. By partnering with De Beers in a joint venture called Debswana, the government ensured that diamond wealth would be reinvested back into its communities.
Our first stop: The Jwaneng Diamond Mine — the world’s richest diamond mine.
Visiting “The Prince of Mines” : Jwaneng Diamond Mine
The moment we arrived at the Jwaneng Diamond Mine, the second largest diamond mine in the world, the scale commanded respect. Mountains of earth carved by enormous machinery, conveyor belts humming like distant thunder. We walked through operational zones where each footstep in the dust echoed the promise of clarity and value. Mining rigs, laser technology, powerful extraction tools—the intricacies of production and how it all worked together harmoniously, were astounding.
Jennifer: “Visiting the mine and manufacturing facilities where there were women gem cutters, miners, managers, sorter, truck drivers, directors - it left a lasting impression on us. Knowing that many of these women are also mothers, wives and caretakers and seeing them so passionate about their work and the industry as a whole is not something that we’ll likely forget. It was also inspiring to see how the companies we visited provided things like child care, fresh food and skills training for their employees, making it easier for women to take jobs that may not have been possible otherwise.”
Christina: “The diamond mine was absolutely breathtaking! I was blown away by its sheer scale and the precision of its operations. Everything ran like a well-oiled machine, with state-of-the-art facilities where safety clearly comes first. What struck me most were the people — all from the surrounding communities — whose energy, pride, and warmth made it clear just how vital the mine is to the area and how positive the working environment truly is.”
At the heart of Botswana’s diamond story is Jwaneng, the richest diamond mine in the world by value. Spread across the Kalahari’s sun-baked landscape, the Jwaneng Diamond Mine is situated within the Orapa Kimberlite Field.[14] In the mine lies the "Jwaneng pipe,"[15] a volcanic crater formed during the Permian period.[16] The mine consists of three kimberlite pipes-[17] carrot-shaped, ancient volcanic conduits that delivered diamonds to the earth’s crust millions of years ago and are the primary source of most of the world's diamonds. Diamond-bearing ores are extracted from the vast pit and transported to processing and manufacturing facilities.[18][19]The mine’s open pit stretches 1.5 miles long and 1 mile wide—it is an amphitheater of rock shaped by more than four decades of precision.
Each year, the mine shifts close to 10 million tonnes of rock—an almost unimaginable feat of engineering. Yet within all that earth, the yield is astonishing: about one carat of diamond per tonne. To picture it, imagine filling the bed of a pickup truck with raw dirt and stone. Out of the entire load, you’d uncover just a single sparkling carat. In most other mines, you’d need two, three, or even four truckloads before finding that same carat. It’s this extraordinary concentration that makes Jwaneng unlike anywhere else on earth.
But Jwaneng’s brilliance goes beyond the stones themselves. As the powerhouse of Debswana—the 50/50 partnership between Botswana’s government and De Beers—the mine symbolizes a rare model in which a nation controls not just extraction, but also the sorting, cutting, and polishing of its diamonds. By keeping the entire value chain at home, Botswana ensures that its natural resources fuel schools, hospitals, infrastructure, and tens of thousands of jobs. With expansion already underway and an ambitious $6 billion underground project set to extend Jwaneng’s life to 2054, the country is doubling down on a future where the true value of its diamonds shines brightest within Botswana itself.
The Women Leading the Way
One of the most inspiring aspects of Jwaneng is the number of women in leadership and technical roles. Engineers, geologists, analysts—they are shaping the future of mining in Botswana and serving as role models for the next generation of women in STEM.
Tsetsa Pharithi is the Mining Manager at Debswana Diamond Company and she expresses how natural diamonds have personally changed her life. “I had free education, free health[care] and got a job at the mine, all from diamonds. Diamonds do good and diamonds do good in my life.”
The Honorable Bogolo Kenewendo, Minister of Minerals and Energy, has been a powerful voice in championing this progress. She speaks of diamonds not just as commodities, but as catalysts—fueling education, infrastructure, and opportunity for all.
Diamonds Do Good Awards 2025 Welcome Address Hon. Bogolo Kenewendo
Christina: “The women working at the mines were truly remarkable. Many held leadership roles and demonstrated a high level of education, expertise, and skill — carrying out their responsibilities with exceptional precision and professionalism.,”
Jennifer: “Seeing how many women’s lives are improved by the diamond industry was awesome in the truest sense of the world. In every visit whether connected to the diamond industry or not, we saw women playing active and often leadership roles.”
Reflections from the Visit
Christina: “This resource [diamond] is not just a source of beauty; it’s a wellspring of joy, opportunity, and progress for Botswana. While we may admire the sparkle of a diamond, here in Botswana, its value is truly life-changing.”
Jennifer : “When you realize that the diamond industry in Botswana touches the lives of the people in so many ways: education, jobs, healthcare, independence it became so clear that the “value” of diamonds that we talk about in the west is centered around money when the real value is the human to human connection that a natural diamond represents. Every step of a diamond’s journey is touched by human hands and there is so much pride in the people who have shepherded it to the point of sale. I feel there should be the same amount of pride in those who buy a responsibly sourced natural diamond because they are choosing to support that journey and all it represents.”
Together, we realized: our trip was already more than a watch and learn experience—we spent time connecting with the people who live and work in Botswana, hearing their stories and understanding how diamonds shape their daily lives.
