Scouts play their part on Youth Day
CRAIGHALL PARK – Reea foundation was considered as this year's recipient of Youth Day voluntary services by 1st German Scouts.
The 1st German Scouts group played their part on Youth Day as they visited Reea Foundation to assist with the community gardens.
Assistant Troop Scouter, Tania van Heerden brought some of the Scouts and volunteers to help out. She said that produce from the Reea gardens was used to help support, feed, and care for the 40 residents that live in the hostel.
“These residents live with serious epilepsy and they’re looked after, but funding is always an issue so the garden supports them. One needs a healthy diet if they live with epilepsy. So, coming here on Youth Day we thought it was a nice idea to help others who are less fortunate,” Van Heerden said.
They decided to plant seeds, clean up and also do some watering which was lacking as there hadn’t been enough rain. She said they could use the river water which was not healthy to drink but had been tested for use to water the crops.
“The rest is really just spending two hours of doing community service and it’s important not just to do it at your schools, it’s also good to go outside of your community and try places that you’re not familiar with. You don’t have to wait for Youth Day to conduct visits to centres or art museums or history museums that teach about the massacre of the 500 students that were murdered at that time in Soweto,” the Scouter stated.
She expressed that not all children had the luxury of the finances to go and see such museums or even to take a bus trip with their families. So, she urged people to try finding something local in their area and do something positive and kind there.
Van Heerden said that this was also an opportunity for them to help and ask the community to invest, support and sponsor a place like Reea which is a non-profit organisation (NPO) and really in need of a lot of help. She referred to the netting that covered the area to prevent the plants getting damaged and the birds stealing all the seeds and drew attention to the massive holes from damage over the years.
“It is also a heritage site and they were only able to cover half or the roof area and the other half is so damaged from the storms, we also need sponsors for that. So, if anyone wants to reach out, any company and private people in the community who want to support this worthy cause we would be so appreciative,” said the Troop Scouter.
Van Heerden said that Scouting was one of the largest youth movements in the world and it was very important to teach children from a very young age to do community service and to show love and kindness to others less fortunate and just do something worthy.
Readers can visit the Reea Foundation website to see where they can donate: www.reea.org.za
Details: 1st German Scouts 011 440 6490
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