Community unites for Bushken pupils
Seagull Regatta donates R31,000 towards new facilities
The two years of lockdown were incredibly difficult for young children and their parents
Maryke Taljaard
“I have never been in a situation where I have seen more kindness in a time of need. We can be so grateful to have people like this in our community.”
An emotional Maryke Taljaard was speaking to Talk of the Town at the official opening of two brand-new play areas at Bushken Primary School in Kenton.
As chairperson of the school’s Finance Committee, Taljaard and other parents have a crucial role in fundraising because the school receives no state subsidy.
Along with school fees, it runs entirely on donations in cash and kind. When she heard the school had been selected to receive a donation of R31,000 from the Seagull Regatta, she cried.
The Seagull Regatta is a fun, annual event on the Kariega River. The “Seagull” part is because it’s vintage outboard engines that power boats and other floating devices of every shape and size.
The event is organised by Dale Cunningham of Eastcape and Karoo Safaris.
“Let me start from the beginning. The two years of lockdown were incredibly difficult for young children and their parents, as we know, ” Taljaard said.
“There was no contact and when children finally did come back to school, they wore masks that made face-to-face communication difficult.
“On top of that, many of our parents lost their jobs or had to close their businesses.”
The school has 49 children not only from Kenton, but also the surrounding communities of Ekuphumleni, Merrihill, Cannon Rocks, Boknes and Klipfontein.
They’re a feeder school for Kenton Primary, but, Taljaard said “because of the quality of the education here, and the focus and commitment of these teachers, you can take your child from here and they will hold their own anywhere”.
There are three age groups: two-three, threefour and four-five.
“We have never had a committee that has had to hustle as hard as this one. It was those dedicated parent volunteers and the kindness of the community that kept our doors open.”
They were blown away when Cunningham told them the school would be a recipient from the Seagull Regatta. Because the donation was a significant amount, they asked the staff what it should be used for.
“We wanted to do something that would benefit the school and its children for years to come.
“A kitchen, ” was the final decision.
Not a place to make tea and coffee and warm up your lunch: they already had that. But a generously-sized, outdoor covered-over play area in the form of a kitchen, where children could play and socialise to their heart’s content.
And not one, but two – one for the younger group and one for the older children.
“The kitchen is the heart of the home – it’s
where people learn to share, to be considerate, and to have fun over a shared activity. It made perfect sense,” Taljaard said.
The trouble was, they had R31,000 and the quote came to R36,000.
That’s when the community really played their part. Okkie Goosen, from BUCO, made materials available at cost price; wood crafter Bruce Murray provided labour for free; Marco Taljaard, of Tallies Supply & Removal got the materials to the site; and finance committee members Melanie Roux and Daleen van Wyk continued fundraising.
“Nothing was a problem for this project – it was a ripple effect.
“We want to share this story because we want to encourage other schools to reach out to their communities for support, and for communities to support their local schools,” Maryke Taljaard said.