Mandela Day pics
On Wednesday 18 July, private citizens, businesses, schools and other entities did their bit to bring Madiba magic closer to home and make a real impact in the lives of those in need. Below are just some of good deeds that came out of what would have been the former stateman’s 100th birthday.
A number of stakeholders joined forces and painted nine houses for this year’s Mandela Day activities. This initiative was launched by the Knysna Older Persons Forum in partnership with the Vermont Old Age Home, Knysna police, department of social development, Knysna Municipality, Knysna Alcohol and Drug Centre, Red Cross Knysna, the representatives from the Community Work Programme workers, Knysna CPF and a number of businesses, including Allkote, Oasis and Glasfit.
The aim of the forum is to promote physical, emotional and social interaction to enhance the overall emotional wellbeing of senior citizens. This forum is a representative body of senior citizen groups from Karatara, Khayalethu, White Location, Dam-seBos, Hornlee, Smutsville, Rheenendal and Concordia.
The houses identified for a “mini makeover” belong to senior citizens in those communities. The group cleaned and painted these house. Blankets and food parcels were also delivered to the households.
At the event, Knysna Older Persons Forum chair Ivan Harker thanked all the stakeholders that partnered in the initiative. “I am extremely glad that all stakeholders came on board in our effort to recognise the 67 years Madiba dedicated to the service of others. The fact that so many people want to donate 67 minutes of their time is really encouraging because it does make a difference in the lives of those families. Some houses are in a dire need of some TLC (tender love and care) and our involvement on Nelson Mandela Day will make that difference.”
He also acknowledged the different business that contributed to the initiative, in particular Buco Knysna, City Paint, Willem Jantjies, Fanie Kiewiets Bouers, Hugh Lawrence, Alexander Bouers, Micheal Blaauw, Athur Bondt, Sunrise Mini Stores, Lolla de Vos, Dr Rodney Lewies, Ruth Christians and Umlanga Projects (Pat Bosch). Buco also provided a whole team who painted two houses in Hornlee as well as City Paint with one team at a house in Joodsekamp.
“Even if we are going through tough economic times, this event was only made possible by the generous contributions from all our stakeholders and sponsors from local business. This team is looking forward to working with these stakeholders in changing the lives of our communities, in a similar manner to how Nelson Mandela impacted the life of many during his 67 years.” – Supplied OR Yaseen?
Planting trees and repainting crèches
SANParks employees in the Garden Route initially planned to find 100 ways to celebrate the Mandela’s birthday. Since there is only one day to celebrate the late president’s birthday, the teams narrowed down their ambitious plans to two central themes: to strengthen partnerships and bring life to structures by refurbishing them.
In the Tsitsikamma section of the Garden Route National Park, teams planted indigenous trees at a school in Storms River and extended commemorations to the following day where the Crags crèche was repainted and maintenance work was done. On Friday they also planted vegetable gardens at the Storms River Primary in collaboration with forestry company MTO. Work got under way early on Mandela Day at Knysna Animal Welfare Society with the painting of the dilapidated quarantine area demarcated for strays, surrendered and injured animals. Other teams from Knysna went to paint Eyethu crèche in White Location partnering with the local ward councillor in the area, while those in Diepwalle and Harkerville went to the Diepwalle crèche.
The Wilderness teams focused in four areas, of which one was in George: At Cancer SA, basic maintenance of wendy houses and further planting of indigenous plants for care homes were done. Another group went to the Golden Oldies Service Centre in collaboration with the department of social development to clean the premises and donate fleece blankets. Similar maintenance events were launched in Beervlei (Lancewood Primary), Farleigh (Karatara Primary) and Goudveld (Keurhoek community crèche.
SANParks honorary rangers in Knysna successfully received volunteers to help with a 67-minute cleanup in Knysna. – Supplied
School learners lead by example
Formosa Primary School in Plettenberg Bay had a whole list of things they set out to do on Mandela Day, including feeding about 100 people by way of a soup kitchen, providing a clothing “bank” where members of the community could choose much-needed items, visiting crèches and a school for disabled children to play with the children and read to them, and the Grade 5 and 6 learners went on a cleanup mission in New Horizons.
The fact that so many people want to donate 67 minutes of their time is really encouraging because it does make a difference in the lives of those families.