Thimporeni was born in Angola in 1953, and came to Botswana as a refugee with her parents when she was 10 years old. She remembers Angola well, and recalls that the reason they left was because some soldiers came to their village and ordered the villagers to give them food. They had to kill a cow and pound millet for them, and the next morning when the soldiers left they decided to flee. Luckily no one had been killed, but they were very afraid. She still remembers the tasty meat they used to eat in Angola, as there they were not prevented from hunting wildlife and there was always meat to be had.

She was married, but her husband left her and she has no children. Thimporeni and one of her sisters are the sole providers in a family of six. Originally a farmer, she now weaves full-time as part of the Etsha Weavers Group.

Trips for collecting basket-making materials can take up to three days, and in the past the women did not eat for the duration of the trip because the belief was that if one touched fire or prepared food before leaving, wild animals would eat you. The journey was solemn, as full concentration was required to avoid animals and no one made jokes. Nowadays of course the women are less superstitious.

Such superstitions may have been reinforced on one such trip when Thimporeni was bitten by a crocodile.
The group had to cross a river and were in water up to their necks when all of a sudden she felt a bite on her leg and she started screaming loudly, certain that she was going to die. All the other women started to run away because they were scared, but her younger sister, Mokwahepo, didn’t flinch and started to hit the crocodile with her axe. The crocodile gave up and left, but Thimporeni was in hospital for a month recovering from her wounds. She still goes to collect palm leaves, but won’t go through water anymore!

A gifted weaver, Thimporeni specialises in weaving closed baskets, even though they take much longer to complete. She has won prizes for her larger works.