We went to Masakhane Tswelelopele Primary School in the community of Zandspruit, a crowded settlement of 30,000 people, on three separate days. This no-fee public school has over 1,000 students, or learners as they are called. The poverty and overcrowding was a shocking contrast to the gated middle-class communities just a few kilometres away. The school is overcrowded with many portable classrooms so there is no place for the children to play.
The school’s cook, who lives in the community, led us on a walk to visit two homes of bedkit recipients. The first home was comprised of two small metal shipping containers, separated by a concrete walkway. One container belonged to a 27-year-old mother of four children aged 3-10. The home consisted of a room with a double bed, a small stove and wash basin and a wardrobe. Her youngest children sleep on the floor or on her bed and the older children sleep on the floor in her mother’s house, the second shipping container. The bedkit mattress wouldn’t fit in the room, so the older children in the grandmother’s house will use it. Across the road is a community bathroom and water station that the family uses, carrying water back to the home to boil for drinking and washing. Two of our team members have 27-year-old daughters, so the contrast between our daughters’ lives and the challenging life of this young mother was stark.
The second home housed a family of seven. It was slightly larger with a shared kitchen/sitting area and shared toilet outside. We were shown the thin blanket that they put on the floor for the children to sleep on. The family were thrilled that the children now had a mattress of their own to share. The father repeatedly shook our hand, said thank you and expressed how happy they were with the gift of a bedkit. He said that the children had had two good nights of sleep on the mattress.
Some of the community have jobs at the school one or two days a week. We spoke to two security guards who had children who had received a bedkit. One father couldn’t stop smiling. He said he got a good sleep for the first time in years as there were no kids in his bed. It was the first time I had thought of the impact of a bedkit on the quality of sleep of the entire family.
We also spoke with the school’s principal. She remarked, ”These children have never had anything. I see happiness in their eyes now. If they sleep, they can learn”. The principal commented that many of the parents told the school staff how happy they are with the bedkits. They feel that someone cares about them.
As we were saying our goodbye, the cook hugged each of us and physically lifted us up, which we learned is the ultimate sign of thanks. Our team thanks the donors of Sleeping Children for the gift of the bedkits that touched 1,500 children and their families so profoundly.
Team South Africa
Rotary E-Club of Eagle Canyon 🇿🇦 and SCAW 🇨🇦
