It’s Mandela Month and NWK celebrated it this week by handing out 500 pairs of brand-new school shoes to needy pupils as part of its annual School Shoe Project. This brings the number of pupils who have benefitted from this project since its inception in 2012/2013, to about 6 000.
The company visited Laerskool Vlakpan near Lichtenburg on Friday, 12 July as well as Morweng Primary School, where 250 pairs of school shoes, beanies, socks, shoe polish and brushes as well as string bags were handed out to pupils.
Laerskool Vlakpan was established in 1916 where the children of producers in the area were educated. With the closure of several other farm schools in the area, the school was again put into operation in 2011. The principal, Joseph Semela, said that some of the pupils travel more than 120 km daily to and from school.
It was heart-touching to see the poor condition some of the children’s shoes were in. “The poverty of these children and their families are indeed rife. You have to watch these children on a day-to-day basis as they come to school without proper shoes and even the basic necessities. They want to learn, but they cannot. So, a donation of this nature really means a lot,” Semela said.
Goitsemang Mapete, departmental head of Morweng Primary School, also expressed her gratitude for the donation on behalf of the school.
This past Tuesday NWK was at two schools in the Coligny area where 250 parcels were handed out to pupils. Monamaladi Primary School was established in 1896 by missionaries. The principal, Koba Choabi, was elated by the donation. “We really appreciate it. It will make a big difference to the community and the school. It will encourage the children to attend school and even their performance will improve,” she said.
Coligny Special School, which teaches special skills to pupils with mild intellectual disabilities, was also one of this year’s beneficiaries. “Some of these children have very difficult circumstances at home and have even been abused. They need any support they can get and we are therefore very grateful for this donation,” the principal, Dinah Sedumedi, said.
The value of this year’s donation is about R263 000. Benedict Modise, Director of Economic Development at NWK, addressed the schools and said that the promotion of children’s development is very important to the company.
“NWK is part of the community and this year we are already celebrating 115 years in the industry. We rely heavily on values such as client orientation and co-responsibility in our community and are therefore concerned with the wellbeing of our community.
“Education is the pillar of any community and it is NWK’s privilege to take hands with schools in this important task that they have,” he added.
The schools that receive donations are identified in collaboration with North West’s Department of Education as well as Samuel Nkone, former area manager of Ditsobotla in the Department of Education
