Cape Town - The sharp eye of Cape Argus photographer Ayanda Ndamane noticed two primary school pupils walking in the cold from their farm community to Vlottenburg Primary School in Stellenbosch, without shoes.
He and his wife, Singalakha, saw the children between 6 and 6.30am on Friday. Ndamane asked the pupils which school they attended, then he contacted Gift of the Givers (GOTG).
The relief organisation sprang into action immediately and provided 100 pairs of new shoes and stationery packs for all the pupils at the school.
On Tuesday, Ndamane, who had taken pictures of the barefoot pupils, was present to capture the moment the children, whom he searched for in the classrooms, were fitted with the shoes.
“I almost cried because of the happiness. It was just two pairs of shoes, but the happiness it brought to those boys, that was it,” Ndamane said.
Principal Charmaine Abrahamse said the school was grateful to GOTG for responding so swiftly when the need for shoes was brought to its attention. Abrahamse said 42 pupils were without shoes at the start of the academic year, and they had to walk two kilometres to reach the school. On Monday, the school reported high absenteeism due to the rain.
She said most of the parents were farmworkers, and many were without jobs and depended on a social grant.
GOTG project manager, Ali Sablay, said the organisation first assisted the school during Covid-19 by providing bulk ingredients for its soup kitchen, a computer laboratory, and a food garden, in addition to painting the school.
He said the school had also been earmarked to receive school shoes this year.
“We will be visiting many other schools in the next coming weeks to make a difference in those small ones’ lives and to give and to show them South Africans do care, and just to encourage them to stay in school because sometimes they feel hopeless. But with a little support, it gives them encouragement to carry on,” Sablay said.
shakirah.thebus@inl.co.za