Maragon’s very own group of charitable supermoms, Maragon Moms That Care (MMTC), was the spearhead of a project, along with a group of Grade 11 learners at the school.
They held various drives at the school to collect either miscellaneous items of clothing or, most preferably seeds, for the West Rand’s only mental health institution that houses patients as required by the state.
Sterkfontein, which was initially built in the late 1800s/ early 1900s, serves as an institution where individuals are submitted to be rehabilitated as per a court order, as they may have been charged with allegedly committing a crime. It is not the hospital’s only function as an institution, but is primarily its purpose.
One of the hospital’s rehabilitation programmes incorporates occupational therapy (OT)/ industrial therapy (IT), which sees patients carry out various activities such as woodwork, sewing, gardening, or simply looking after earthworm farms. It is in light of this that MMTC and the learners elected to collect as many seeds as possible which can be used by those doing the gardening, which they in turn handed over to the hospital on Wednesday, 10 October, World Mental Health Day.
The produce which is grown by the patients is actually sometimes sold on the premises at a vastly reduced price, and is sometimes even used in the food made for the patients at the hospital. The patients take great pride in the maintenance and upkeep of their vegetable garden, and the donation by MMTC will undoubtedly go a long way to assisting in the hospital’s programme.
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