Sisanda Shange: "It was fine. I learnt to be grateful for what I have as we have become used to the things we have, such as food to eat and then going without that is difficult."
FOREST View Primary School’s Grade 6 and Grade 7 pupils took part in an all-night sleep out at the school to encourage them to have more empathy and understanding for others.
The children spent 24 hours as a homeless person and all of their usual day-to-day privileges were revoked, from a comfy bed and showers to electronic devices and luxury food items.
The event started on Thursday, 15 September and ran until 1pm on the Friday. The pupils converged on the school grounds and had to use the items lying around the school to create their own personal shelters. Later in the evening there were given a luke warm meal of half a loaf of bread with tinned spaghetti and meatballs.
Jean Montile, the public relations officer at the school, quoted a line from Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird to sum up the experience, ““You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.” I would like to thank Inkunzi Crowd Control fencing, Pick n Pay, Blue Security and the Forest Hills Neighbourhood Watch for helping with the event,” said Jean.
Ethan Goveia: “It was good for us to do this and realise the trouble they go through to get food and to find a place to sleep. The don’t have a proper living conditions on the streets. I missed my bed the most after sleeping in a gutter for the night.”
Sipokazi Dlamini: “I missed my bed and my morning and evening showers. I found it to be a great experience as it has taught me to be grateful for the things around me and that life is really hard on the streets.”
Shane Marillier: “It was good to experience what the homeless go through. They all have a past and it may not be their fault that they’re in that situation. It’s a very hard life. I was battling to sleep outside as it’s not something that I’m used to. I missed my family, my dogs and my bed.”
Machaela Cowley: “We only experienced a fraction of what homeless people go through and even though the food wasn’t too great we should all be grateful that we were even given some. I really missed my bed and my family.”
Chantelle De Marillac: “I found it to be a good experience as I am now really grateful for the things that I have. We have only experienced about one per cent of what the homeless experience. I am grateful that my parents love me and come from a happy home. The food wasn’t bad but wasn’t what I was used to. I am now grateful that we were given food as there are so many people who go without.”
Elizabeth Maré: “It was eye-opening. We watched a documentary and saw how the homeless lived. We then had to find shelter. We were given food and we thought we were hungry, the food came and it was luke warm, tinned food.”
Lilitah Dlamalala: “It was very difficult as we had very little food, very little warmth and that’s when I realised that we have it so much easier that the people that live on the streets. I missed my bed the most.”
Tait Mayhew: “We have a lot more than the people that live on the streets and it was an eye-opening experience. It was a good experience in the sense that we learnt a lot. I missed my family the most.”
Emily Whitaker: “It was difficult and I feel really sorry for people who live on the streets. At night it was freezing and during the day it was boiling hot. I missed my family the most and my bed too.”
Kyle Jessen: “It was a great experience for all of us but it was sad to see and feel how the people out there have no food and the struggles they face. I missed being with my friends outside of school.”
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