‘CUPED’ strikes with hearty donation at Inchanga school

INCHANGA Primary School recently benefited from the charitable work carried out by CUPED, a division of Conquesta.

The company was searching for disadvantaged schools in KZN, and were told about the love and dedication of the principal and teachers at Inchanga, and decided to reach out to the pupils.

Lilly Hoogervorst, founder and owner of Conquesta, who is passionate about assisting the less fortunate, said, “All children need to enjoy the same opportunities when it comes to education, and be recognised for their efforts even if they’re not academically inclined.”

She meets the great need for assistance with equipment, facilities and teaching aids at disadvantaged schools to give all pupils a fair advantage in education to make a difference. Hoogervorst was assisted by Basil Wood, who has driven this project forward and found sponsorship for equipment and other goods.

Apart from donating new equipment to the school, CUPED also sponsored 1 200 pupils who participated in the maths and science Conquesta.

Wood said, “We have never seen such dedication in preparing pupils for the Olympiads as we saw happen at Inchanga Primary. They changed their teaching methods and prepped the pupils so that they could excel.

“In March 2015, Conquesta was invited by SAASTA to the first STEMI Conference ever held in South Africa, which was attended by representatives of the science and technology institutions and education departments from around the country, as well as other important dignitaries. This was held to determine a way to get Olympiads out to the remote rural areas around South Africa so that all children could have equal opportunities to participate. We were asked to bring two pupils to the conference with us, pupils who could tell the conference delegates how taking part in our Olympiads affected their school and themselves. The two children from Inchanga Primary and their teacher were flown up to Johannesburg for the amazing experience.

“We have undertaken to seek sponsors to provide school equipment for distribution to the schools selected as part of the CUPED programme, and Nashua in East London generously donated 20 machines with copy, print, fax and scan facilities. We had the great pleasure of handing over the first machine to a very well-deserving Inchanga Primary.

“The school needs as much support as can be given – teaching, learning and media materials and equipment, repairs and maintenance, building materials, sports facilities and equipment, science facilities and equipment, garden tools, vegetable seedlings and compost.

“If anybody is able to encourage and support this school by donating any of the equipment and/or materials mentioned above, you can be assured that they will be received with grateful hearts and be put to good use.”