RUIMSIG – Wishes do come true.
This is exactly what happened when a day-care centre received an additional room as part of Mandela Day celebrations. On 18 July, Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens staff went to Peacock – an informal settlement near Ruimsig Stadium to lend a helping hand. “I believe Tata (Mandela) is smiling where he is right now,” explained marketing and communications manager of the botanical gardens, Ronny Tshabalala.
He says since education and children were Nelson Mandela’s priority, that is how they made a selection of a project that they would support. “It pained us when we went there earlier to take stock of what difference we could make. Children crammed in the tiny structure, freezing, made us to be courageous to approach other businesses and we were able to secure building material and a heater,” Tshabalala explains.
“Nobody could have imagined what was achieved on the day, when South Afican National Biodiversity Institute (Sanbi) was responding to the United Nations’ call to honour our Father of the Nation and world icon Tata Mandela to spend a few minutes to help make a difference in the lives of the poor, by devoting their time and efforts,” explains Tshabalala.
The team added one room at Apex Crèche after it was found that more than 20 children were sharing a single room. “Thanks to the generosity of Mica Hardware Ruimsig who donated the corrugated sheets that made the extension possible.” A swing was also constructed for the toddlers, using materials from the botanical garden.
The whole structure of the day-care centre was revamped as the team painted it. Farm City not only donated the paint, but also a gas heater and a 50-litre tub.
The botanical gardens’ contribution was not limited to just lending a hand and giving their time – they also donated three boxes full of goods, including clothing and toys.
The elated owner Jeminah Khumalo was short of words and thanked the team for such a gesture. “God works wonders in His own ways. We’ve been knocking on doors for such assistance and we never imagined that He would answer in this way. We are so thankful and please extend this generosity to many other needy people,” she said.
Before receiving their gifts, the children sang Mandela a birthday song, though posthumously, and ate cakes donated by Checkers from Cradlestone Mall.
“This is a moment of pride for having made an intervention toward the betterment of an African child. We will stop at nothing to honour our Father of the Nation and devote ourselves as he intended. Such partnership of joining forces with the surrounding businesses is proving to be a winning strategy that is making a real difference in the needy communities,” Khumalo said.
The other team from the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens heeded the call from the government to help clean the residential areas and went to the busy Hendrik Potgieter Road where they collected litter and filled more than 20 plastic bags.
