Here is the latest on the South Africa 7 Schools Global Grant, the largest Global Grant in the Rotary world last year at over $420K.We are making a difference in the black township of Makhanda thanks to our partners in the Rotary Clubs of Grahamstown, South Africa.
From Gavin Keeton
Update on Water, Sanitation and Dignity Project
Happy Thanksgiving! I know this is a time for family celebrations in the US, so best wishes to you all and to your families. On Monday I attended the official handover of the toilets at George Dickerson Primary. This is the 5th school where we have now officially handed over the completed facilities. The 6th handover, at Khutlitso Daniels Secondary School, will take place next Friday, 1st December. On Monday work also started at out 7th School, Samuel Ntsiko Primary. This work should be completed early in the new year (the entire South African building industry stops work for 3 weeks in December).This means the physical work of the project is now coming to an end. But we will be busy with signage and training for some time still.
I wish you, our donors, could have been present for the handover at George Dickerson. We met with the senior management of the school plus pupils from one of the grades. Their gratitude for and pride in their new facilities once again made me very proud to be a Rotarian. Our Club President, Helen McCallum spoke about the importance of the "hidden curriculum"-the things children learn in addition to the formal school curriculum.I think that is for me one of the biggest results of the project. The children are clearly proud of their facilities. At GeorgeDickerson (and several of the other schools) they clean the toilets themselves, and seem happy to do so. They understand the transformation is not just for them, but for future pupils who will attend their school. We also stress that Rotary hopes one day to extend the project into other schools that are not part of our project, and that this will only be possible if we are able to show that what we have done so far is appreciated and cared for. The future of other children is in their hands.
