Keyaan Hendricks, 4, walked into class last Monday morning (29 February) and inspired his whole school to help dying animals, thirst-stricken people and farmers.
#OperationHydrate, or “Properation Rydrate”, as he introduced it to his class group of 12 children at the Sunflower Lane Baby and Daycare Centre, is a drive by which big trucks get loaded with big water to take to thirsty people, he said. He told them about his Uncle Mo (Mohammed Modan) who is involved in the project and sort of like his hero. What was meant to be a simple story about what his weekend was like, as all the children tell the class on Monday morning, turned into a two-hour discussion about why the people don’t have water and how the children can help.
“They all offered to fill their juice bottles and get on the truck to take it to the people,” school principal Nureena Timm told the Record.
“We decided, as a group together, that it would be even better if we got bigger bottles and had the mommies, daddies, grannies and neighbours get involved.”
Together with Nureena’s dad, Raymond Timm, Keyaan’s parents, Farhana and Faiz Hendricks and Modan (an executive committee member of #OpeartionHydrate) as well as the other school staff they got the crêche to become an official #OperationHydrate drop-off point within a week, calling themselves #OperationHydrate Greater Florida. Large posters decorate the stoep and gate of the school to invite the community to join in collecting water.
Some large bottles of water already decorate and occupy the stoep and foyer of the house-turned-crêche, and Nureena said they hope to gather more over the weekend. Sunflower Lane will be raising awareness about the operation, handing out pamphlets and collecting water at the Spar complex on Goldman Street on Saturday from 8.30am til 12 noon. Interested parties can contact the school on 011 672 9918 or drop off water at their premises at 55 Shamrock Street, on the corner of 9th Avenue, Florida.
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