Children at Diepsloot Combined School will have a welcome surprise when they return to school thanks to generous community members.
A new, multipurpose building, which has been under construction since August last year, is now complete. Thanks to a partnership with the Rotary Club of Swindon and the Sandton Rotary Club, the clubs have been able to build the facility to help improve the lives of teachers and children at the school.
The new building will provide a working space for members of EduFun, a non-profit organisation which provides English literacy lessons to learners in grades 2 and 3. They also provide health checks and provide support for learners moving to
The project was first proposed in 2016 however the project did not gain momentum until last year. On 11 January, various volunteers got together to do a final clean-up of the new building and ensure all the loose ends were tied up.
Sue Huck, a member of Rotary Club of Swindon and an EduFun volunteer helped coordinate and fundraise for the project. She said, “Just four months ago we didn’t dare dream that we’d have an operational building at the beginning of 2020, but here we are getting it ready for the first day of school next week.”
Jenny Taylor, the chairperson for EduFun, explained that lessons have been taking place outside under trees whereas now the building will provide them with a home base. She added that there have been some incredible offshoot projects such as a sewing project to repair school uniforms and first aid lessons for teachers. The building will now provide a centralised location for all of these projects to take place in a clean environment.
“It’s amazing, I feel like my mind is no longer cluttered because we will now have a space for everything.”
The school’s deputy principal, Maria Makgota, known as Ouma, said, “This project was a mountain, and when we started planning it felt like we climbed and climbed. Now we are on top of the mountain and I just want to say thank you to Mark, he was the engine of this project.”
There were generous sponsors who helped make the project possible including Mark Batchelor who coordinated the construction and Terence Shacklady from Empowered Spaces Architects who designed the building. Kelro Construction sourced many of the building materials such as windows and bathroom fittings from other projects.
Related Article:
https://www.citizen.co.za/fourways-review/322712/10-signs-child-good-school/
