Resident gives school support to needy kids
Campaign tackles poverty by providing uniforms and stationery
HAVING grown up knowing what it was like to be without a school uniform or stationery, a young woman from Driftsands is determined to make a difference for children in underprivileged communities.
Chumani Mtshixa, 22, collects new and second-hand school uniforms and stationery, and distributes them to local schools. She also raises funds for disadvantaged schools by hosting concerts, and using the money raised to buy more clothing.
Mtshixa was inspired by a friend who had started a Christmas initiative with orphans.
“From my friend’s idea, I thought of this back-to-school one because I knew it would be more helpful to disadvantaged children. When the back-to-school advert appeared at the beginning of January, that’s when I visualised the reality of running the campaign.
“Since there are those problems in January where you hear people complaining about a lack of money to buy school supplies, I realised there was a need for this campaign. Even if you give a little something small, you are showing a poor child they are not alone, we are in this together, and as hard as it is, we need to support each other as well because I’m also coming from a disadvantaged family,” said Mtshixa.
She said she posted about the campaign on Facebook, and people surprisingly responded positively and started donating immediately.
“We have already distributed school uniforms at Mzamomtsha Primary School in Driftsands and Masibambisane in Delft. It depends also on what we receive from people; if they give white shirts, we look for schools that have white shirts, and it depends on sizes. If we receive big sizes we give them to high schools and small sizes to primary schools.
“I am also part of the uJama gardening project, where we implement the campaign in schools since there is always a shortage of feeding schemes at schools.
“On February 4, we will have an event at Guga S’thebe in Langa, where we will have local artists and dancers, poetry and a motivational speaker, who will educate young people on how poverty is affecting our lives and how to overcome it.”
Visit the campaign on Facebook under “Masifunde mtase”.