A stretch of the Jukskei River is clean thanks to 101 children from different parts of Tembisa and Diepsloot who took part in this year’s River Rehab Clean Stream sponsored by Telkom 947 Cycle Challenge.
Dubbed a success by event organisers, Roots and Shoots, Eco-Culture Sechaba Foundation and Learning Alive, the kids took to the clean-up operation on 8 December at the Northern Farm Nature Reserve.
However, apart from the river clean-up, the children participated in various activities such as an interpretative bush walk, a water testing workshop and other hands-on practical environmental activities.
The curriculum-aligned activities were aimed at improving their understanding of the ecosystems, the environment and help them with natural science and social science subject areas in a relaxed outdoor setting.
Speaking about the event, co-event organiser Alexander Frost said the children were enthusiastic about cleaning the river and managed to collect a total of 110 refuse bags of rubble from the river banks in the process.
“After a month of preparation, we are happy and proud of how the event played out,” said Frost.
“The children responded very well to the day’s activities and we feel we are making good inroads with developing strong environmental ethics and understanding amongst the participants.”
In addition, The Telkom 947 Cycle Challenge partners with several landowners and communities along the Jukskei River in the run-up to the annual Telkom 947 Mountain Bike Challenge.
“A big part of the appeal of mountain biking is to get out into nature, and so keeping our environment clean while teaching kids to respect the waterways from an early age is something very close to us,” said race director, Tanya Harford.
“We try to uplift the communities we work with around the Cycle Challenge, and this project not only left the river banks around Diepsloot cleaner but also directly impacted on a number of children from this area.”
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