Sacred Heart College hosted different schools for 67 Blankets for Mandela Day’s meet and knit initiative

Teachers in different schools will be spearheading the 67 Blankets for Mandela Day initiative and give the international non-profit organisation feedback about progress made.

April 14, 2023

Asanda Matlhare 1 minute read

Risuna Makhubele and Siphokazi Mlotshwa play the marimba. Photo: Asanda Matlhare

67 Blankets for Mandela Day kickstarted their ‘meet and knit’ youth initiative at Sacred Heart College.

The invited schools included Jeppe High School for Girls, Parktown High School for Girls, Norwood Primary School, Craighall Primary School, and Steyn City School.

Silindile Shabalala and Harriet Sibanda are happy to crotchet at Sacred Heart College. Photo: Asanda Matlhare

The day was filled with crocheting, laughs and conversations about how schools could continue keeping the 67 blankets initiative alive in the years to come.

A Sacred Heart College learner Grace Bedi said the crocheting project was special to her because she enjoyed teaching her peers how to crochet scarves and blankets that would make a difference in people’s lives.

Boikanyo Sithole, Boitumelo Qakuza,Tinyiko Ngobeni and Sandy Kilulwe are Norwood Primary School learners who enjoy crocheting. Photo: Asanda Matlhare

Bedi added this was the sixth year she had been involved in the initiative. “The biggest challenge is encouraging the youth to participate. There is a stigma that crocheting is an old people’s hobby as well as getting both genders on board because girls are more inclined to crochet than boys.”

The 67 Blankets ambassador Annie Robinson Grealy said they wanted to encourage the youth to give back by using their knitting skills.

Katherine Malcolm, Lindsay Hendry and Sabrina Rodrigues are Craighall Primary School learners happy to crotchet for a difference. Photo: Asanda Matlhare

“The 67 blankets executive team posed a question: ‘what will happen when the team leaves the NPO and its positions one day?’ and the answer we came up with was to get the youth to continue with the initiative. Today is the start of many school crotchet marathons to come.”

She added the idea was to create school executive committees made up of learners in different grades to run the project.

Jade Freeman and Phethego Mello are Parktown High School for Girls learners who want to make a difference. Photo: Asanda Matlhare

“The committees can also come up with competitions like we have had in the past, such as being in the Guinness World Records and crocheting the longest scarves in history. A lot of schools have sister and brother schools and we hope to get those schools together through this project. It is our first one, and we aim to encourage the youth to start and run with it in the future.”