Following on from the now popular call by the President for ‘us’ to be sent, The President’s Award youth in the Eastern Cape have begun to live this motto and thus far a remarkable amount of work has been done. Cathcart participants painted Daliwe Primary School toilet block; in Aliwal North, The House of Hope was cleaned, repaired and painted and Kwakomani High School in Queenstown fixed a rural school in Lehmansdrift. Locally in Grahamstown, PJ Olivier High School participants repaired sealed and painted their library windows. The list goes on and on!
As one participant from Aliwal North said, “If we don’t do it, then who will? And why should we wait for someone else to fix and clean up our community: for them it’s just a job; for us, it’s where we live and learn.”
The efforts of these young people were supported through donations by local businesses (Build it Aliwal North, Penny Pinchers Grahamstown) and through hard work of adult volunteers/ Award leaders and the youth themselves.
Thuma Mina… They have been sent and the fruits of their labour are there, for us all to see.
