A stretch of the Jukskei River is currently clean, thanks to 101 children from different parts of Diepsloot and Tembisa who took part in this year’s River Rehab Clean Stream sponsored by Telkom 947 Cycle challenge.
The clean-up event took place on 8 December in Northern Farm Nature Reserve which was organised by Eco-Culture Sechaba Foundation, Roots and Shoots and Learning Alive.
Apart from the river clean-up, the children participated in various activities such as an interpretative bush walk, water testing workshop and other hands-on practical environmental workshops.
These activities that the children participated in aimed at improving their understanding of the environment and eco-systems.
As the activities are curriculum aligned, they assisted the children with natural sciences and social science subject areas in a relaxed outdoor setting.
The children were seen enthusiastic about cleaning the river as they managed to collect a total of 110 refuse bags from the river banks.
Speaking of this exciting event, the organiser Alexander Frost said, “After a month of preparation we are happy and proud of how the event played out. The children responded very well to the day’s activities and we feel we are making good inroads with developing strong environmental ethics and understanding amongst the participants.”
Telkom 947 Cycle Challenge partners with several landowners and communities along the Jukskei River for the annual Telkom 947 Mountain Bike Challenge.
“A big part of the appeal of mountain biking is to get out into nature, and so keeping our environment clean, and teaching kids to respect the waterways from an early age is something very close to us,” said race director Tanya Harford.
Harford added that they try to uplift the communities they work with around the cycle challenge, and the project not only left the river banks around Diepsloot cleaner but also directly impacted on a number of children from this area.
