Inspired by the CEO SleepOut, King David Primary School in Victory Park hosted a School SleepOut on 28 July to encourage its pupils to empathise with those less fortunate and become aware of the realities of homelessness within the community.
Grade 7 pupils of the primary school together with some of the high school pupils and selected teachers spent a cold winter’s night sleeping outside on the school grounds.
The primary school chose Thato Ke Matla Foster and Safety House as its beneficiary. The orphanage, situated in Orange Farm, is home to about 40 abandoned children ranging from seven months to 16 years of age.
All pupils of the school, regardless of whether they participated in the SleepOut or not, were encouraged to bring warm blankets to donate to the orphanage.
King David High School Victory Park had 70 students and staff members participating in the CEO Schools Sleepout. Students packed more than 2 000 meals with Stop Hunger Now Southern Africa from 6pm to 8pm.
Pupils of the high school also collected tinned food and clothes which will be donated to Pholosho School in Alexandra, as well as to Kids Haven. Some of the evening’s events of the high school’s SleepOut included a talk by Helen Fraser from the Nashua Children’s Charity Foundation; and two homeless women, Lizzie Buda and Pauline Dube, who shared their stories with the pupils.
Pam Green from the non-profit organisation, Second Chances, which assists homeless and unemployed people, addressed the high school pupils on the statistics of homelessness in South Africa and some of the causes that affect this pandemic, such as drug abuse.
The high school also organised a group activity to make sleeping bags out of newspaper and plastic to be donated to homeless people after the event.
Nirvana Rogers, campus marketing manager of King David High School said, “Our campus is proud to have the opportunity to do more than support outreach verbally. This initiative creates much-needed awareness to find solutions to real-world problems. King David Victory Park aims to produce pupils who are equipped with a strong determination to contribute to their society.”
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