Welcome boost for Cowan High
German pupils step in with donation
ACULTURAL exchange programme last year touched the hearts of a group of German pupils so much that they opted to return this year to donate more than R10 000 to Cowan High School.
BBS Wechloy, a TVET college in Oldenburg, Germany, returned to the Bay to hand over a generous donation of R10 725 to the New Brighton school last week.
The German group had identified Cowan High School as being a school with great potential during their 2016 visit to Lawson Brown High School.
While on their visit then, the group of eight pupils were so taken aback by the ethics, as well as determination of the pupils and staff at Cowan to overcome their circumstances, they decided to step in and assist through the donation.
Cowan High School principal Trevor Dolley said he was happy to hear that the pupils wanted to visit the school and surprised to hear about the donation.
“Each and every drop counts, especially in terms of our location – being in the township and [looking after] my ‘clientele’ [pupils] at the end of the day,” Dolley said.
“We intend on beefing up our nutrition – they were very specific as to how we should utilise the funds – so we prepare nutritious meals for all the pupils.
“There is a big increase in the number of our pupils, and many of our pupils’ parents most probably lost their jobs due to the closure of General Motors.”
The cultural exchange programme was the brainchild of Lawson Brown High School principal Donovan Cairncross, who in 2014 introduced the idea of a cultural exchange with a German school.
The school then worked towards their first visit in 2015 through various fundraisers.
Cairncross said: “We insisted that our pupils stay with [the] families [of the pupils] as this would expose them to other cultures. The visit was well organised by our German hosts, with our pupils not only attending classes at BBS Wechloy, but also visiting heritage sites and [learning about the] rich history of the German nation.
“Education does not only occur in the classroom. The main aim [of this programme] is to expose our pupils to life beyond Lawson Brown, life beyond Port Elizabeth, life beyond South Africa and allow their perspectives to broaden,” he said.
Speaking about the German group’s initial impression of Cowan High School, Cairncross said: “They were overwhelmed by the kids who received food from the feeding scheme and immediately decided that they could contribute to this facet.”
The group were welcomed with open arms and a drill parade by Cowan High learners last week, as they returned to hand over the donation.
Dolley said the teachers would work together to identify kids who might not have parents and pack food parcels for them to take home.