Rotary funds new classrooms for
Sakhingomso Farm School
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John Porter
A derelict milking shed has been transformed into two new
classrooms, a kitchen and a principal’s office for the Sakhingomso
Farm School. The project was undertaken by members of the
Grahamstown Rotary Club and the
Kingswood College Interact Club. The
new facility was officially handed over at a ceremony held at the
school on Wednesday (18/2/04).
School governing body chairman Mr Sobhani Ngindo was lost for
words at the transformation. “I cannot believe how a ruin can now be
a thing of such beauty. This will be much appreciated by the
community for many years to come,” he said.
The school is situated on Hope Fountain farm near Salem, where
the local community are recent beneficiaries of a land resettlement
claim.
A year ago, Rotarians John Porter, Harry Rama and Bill Mills
visited the school to identify and cost their needs, and to seek
international partners to assist with funding for a Rotary matching
grant. The project included ceilings, flooring, partitioning,
cupboards, desks, chairs, electrical work, plastering, painting,
fencing, plumbing and rainwater tanks.
The project is a combined effort of the Grahamstown Rotary Club,
the Kingswood College Interact Club, the
Rhodes University Rotaract
Club, the Rotary Club of Saskatoon Meewasin in Canada, the
Canadian
Rotary Committee for International Development, and the
Rotary
Foundation.
Feisty Sakhingomso School Principal Mrs Nomgcobe Futshane was not
lost for words on this occasion. While she praised the community for
entrusting their children to the school and the teachers for caring
for and nurturing the children, she challenged the municipality and
the education department to show a little support.
“It takes a village to raise a child. What is the education
department doing? We have an electricity supply here. The department
must take responsibility for the account. We need transport. We need
fencing to protect the school from vandalism,” she said.
“This is the first time ever that we see delegates of Makana
Municipality at our school. It is time that they strengthened their
relationships with the poorest of the poor because this is where
they will find the poorest of the poor. I hope your food parcels are
not just an election promise but a reality, otherwise you will cause
chaos here for me,” she warned mayoral representative Mr Nesi.
Mrs Futshane assured Rotarians and members of the school
governing body that this new asset would be preserved and maintained
to benefit many generations to come. “We have been crying out for
these classrooms. In the past we were teaching three grades in one
classroom. These conditions were not conducive to learning,” she
said.
The new classrooms are separated by a folding “concertina”-type
door, enabling both classrooms to be turned into one large team
teaching room. The rest of the building has been divided into a
kitchen and a principal’s office. Local Rotarians Ian McJannet and
Harry Rama personally supervised all the construction work.
The Grahamstown Rotary Club has benefited many local schools in
the past. In the last two years:
