Four former school friends have banded together to call themselves Ubuntu Warriors – to help provide shoes to pupils who have to walk long distances to school.
Mtha Gaulekapa, Esethu Ndzamela, Siphesihle Ndamase and Laerce Heslop – all former Mthatha High School pupils now in their twenties – decided two months ago to launch their “Shoes to School” initiative to help children from their community.
Heslop said the idea was inspired when the friends – who now study and work in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein and Mthatha – came together during the school holidays earlier this year and Gaulekapa told of how his mother would walk to school without shoes.
“We figured it would be a great thing to start because there are still kids who walk barefoot or with worn-out shoes,” said Heslop. “Children today should not experience what our parents endured in their struggle to get an education.
“As the generation of today, it’s our responsibility to bridge the gap with the little we have, in whatever way we can.”
Ndamase is doing his masters in international relations at the University of the Free State, Ndzamela is doing a BSc in geosciences at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University while Gaulekapa is completing his B.Com in economics through Unisa.
Heslop, who was studying psychology at UCT, has taken a gap year and is currently working in Mthatha.
The four dug into their pockets and started sending letters to local churches, businesses and organisations to help them reach their target of handing 250 pairs of school shoes to needy pupils at five schools in Mthatha.
Parents at Transkei Primary School responded and donated 13 pairs of new shoes and two used pairs.
The friends also arranged a car wash fundraiser and managed to collect enough money to buy more shoes.
Within a few weeks they managed to collect 24 pairs for pupils at Bantwana Junior Secondary School in Mqanduli last week.
Siyabulela Kula, a teacher at the school, said he had assumed the four were selling insurance when they arrived at the school a week ago.
“There was a time I also thought they were those people that ask about poor children and never do anything about them, but I became excited when they said they had shoes in the car for children who needed them.”
Needy pupils were identified in Grades 1, 2 and 3. Of the 24 pairs, eight did not fit. They will be exchanged for the proper sizes and given to the school.
“Parents have been walking with their children to school this week, crying and thanking us, but we tell them we are not responsible for the kind deeds done by the group,” said Kula.
The Ubuntu Warriors said their goal now was to collect as much as possible for the new school year. They are planning a big fundraiser event for later this year.
lThe Daily Dispatch, in partnership with Johnson&Johnson, features ordinary people who help others in extraordinary ways, as we have with these local heroes.
To nominate a local hero, e-mail localheroes@dispatch.co.za or call (043) 702-2242. Don’t forget to include contact details for your nominee. — mbalit@dispatch.co.za
OUR LOCAL HEROES: Four friends forge shoe project
Mtha Gaulekapa, Esethu Ndzamela, Siphesihle Ndamase and Laerce Heslop – all former Mthatha High School pupils now in their twenties – decided two months ago to launch their “Shoes to School” initiative to help children from their community.
Heslop said the idea was inspired when the friends – who now study and work in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein and Mthatha – came together during the school holidays earlier this year and Gaulekapa told of how his mother would walk to school without shoes.
“We figured it would be a great thing to start because there are still kids who walk barefoot or with worn-out shoes,” said Heslop. “Children today should not experience what our parents endured in their struggle to get an education.
“As the generation of today, it’s our responsibility to bridge the gap with the little we have, in whatever way we can.”
Ndamase is doing his masters in international relations at the University of the Free State, Ndzamela is doing a BSc in geosciences at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University while Gaulekapa is completing his B.Com in economics through Unisa.
Heslop, who was studying psychology at UCT, has taken a gap year and is currently working in Mthatha.
The four dug into their pockets and started sending letters to local churches, businesses and organisations to help them reach their target of handing 250 pairs of school shoes to needy pupils at five schools in Mthatha.
Parents at Transkei Primary School responded and donated 13 pairs of new shoes and two used pairs.
The friends also arranged a car wash fundraiser and managed to collect enough money to buy more shoes.
Within a few weeks they managed to collect 24 pairs for pupils at Bantwana Junior Secondary School in Mqanduli last week.
Siyabulela Kula, a teacher at the school, said he had assumed the four were selling insurance when they arrived at the school a week ago.
“There was a time I also thought they were those people that ask about poor children and never do anything about them, but I became excited when they said they had shoes in the car for children who needed them.”
Needy pupils were identified in Grades 1, 2 and 3. Of the 24 pairs, eight did not fit. They will be exchanged for the proper sizes and given to the school.
“Parents have been walking with their children to school this week, crying and thanking us, but we tell them we are not responsible for the kind deeds done by the group,” said Kula.
The Ubuntu Warriors said their goal now was to collect as much as possible for the new school year. They are planning a big fundraiser event for later this year.
lThe Daily Dispatch, in partnership with Johnson&Johnson, features ordinary people who help others in extraordinary ways, as we have with these local heroes.
To nominate a local hero, e-mail localheroes@dispatch.co.za or call (043) 702-2242. Don’t forget to include contact details for your nominee. — mbalit@dispatch.co.za
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