Fourways High School‘s Grade 11 schoolchildren, Chloe Greig and Joshua Flanagan visited Phronesis Crèche in Kya Sands Informal Settlement and prompted the community to help the school with learning equipment.
Chloe said, “Having heard about other climbers? who have raised funds for a charity, we thought we could make our opportunity beneficial to more than just ourselves, by giving back to our community. As both our mothers are pre-school teachers and are passionate about educating little children, an unprivileged school seemed the perfect choice for fundraising.”
She added that they decided to collect little bicycles, scooters, puzzles, dolls and balls for the children.
“We just needed to find the right place to donate to. After our first visit to the informal settlement school called, Phronesis, meaning wisdom in Greek, we knew that whatever we could do for this school, no matter how small, would make a positive change to these children’s lives.”
She added that when they arrived, the children were pretty cautious and just stared at them. “Then slowly, as we took out all the toys, they got up and started to play with each item and in no time they were running around screaming with delight.”
Chloe further added that school is in a small container with a paved front area. “The container has some shelving in it for equipment, mats to sleep and sit on and a table for preparing food. I thought to myself, this was no space for learning as this was where they stayed most of the time, which was usually too hot outside and there was no shade.”
She said there was no space in the container to set up little tables and workstations and as much as the children loved what they brought, they did not actually have space for it all.
“There is also no running water and no electricity; it is a pretty dire situation.”
She said community members can help with the following:
- The covered area: Gum poles and corrugated roofing or thatched roofing and labour
- The sandpit: Bags of sandpit sand, bricks and cement, a covering and labour
- A storage area: A second container (so they can use the current one as their classroom) and jungle gyms.
For more details, email masegos@caxton.co.za
How will you be doing your bit to help out in the Kya Sands Informal Settlement Crèche? Share your views on the Fourways Review Facebook page.
