A concerned East London teacher’s Facebook post on the state of a pupil’s shoes drew a rapid and heartfelt response.
In the end, Selborne College pupil Junior Nxumalo stepped up and donated new shoes to Aviwe Zondani. They are both 16.
Zodwa Maqoqa, a life orientation teacher at the Mdantsane’s Vulamazibuko High School, was doing physical orientation with her Grade 8 class when she noticed the state of Aviwe’s shoes. She called him aside and asked about his living conditions. She discovered he lived with his grandmother and that his mother was unemployed.
Maqoqa said she asked Aviwe’s permission to take a picture of his shoes to post on Facebook and he agreed. The post even reached
advocate Mthunzi Mhaga, national spokesman for the Department of Correctional Services and Justice, and one of the drivers of the 1Million Shoes Campaign.
Mhaga contacted Junior, a campaign ambassador, and informed him of Zondani’s plight.
Junior, after seeing the work the 1Million Shoes Campaign was doing in Johannesburg earlier this year, asked the team if he could work with them from the Eastern Cape.
When they agreed he roped in his friend and “right hand man” Siphosethu Nxafani and Selborne teacher Mark Doolan to help
convince the whole of Grade 10 at the school to partner in collecting shoes for needy pupils in the city.
“When we saw that Aviwe was from Mdantsane, we as a grade pushed to help him,” Nxumalo said.
Last Friday, together with Mhaga, they donated a pair of new school shoes and sport sneakers to Aviwe, the first pupil they have assisted.
Junior said he has always lived by the words “there are a lot of nice people in the world. But if you can’t find one, then you become one”.
He said they planned to donate many more shoes and called on residents and businesses to join the cause and donate.
Together with Doolan, the grade has now offered to take students from Vulamazibuko to Selborne for tutoring and sports training, an initiative born out of assisting Aviwe.
Maqoqa said there had been an overwhelming response to Aviwe’s need and she was now also starting a campaign: Help A Teacher Help A Child.
Once needy schools have been identified, the first donations will come from the extra shoes and clothes that the school received for Aviwe. — vuyiswav@dispatch.co.za
Happy feet for Aviwe after Junior steps in
In the end, Selborne College pupil Junior Nxumalo stepped up and donated new shoes to Aviwe Zondani. They are both 16.
Zodwa Maqoqa, a life orientation teacher at the Mdantsane’s Vulamazibuko High School, was doing physical orientation with her Grade 8 class when she noticed the state of Aviwe’s shoes. She called him aside and asked about his living conditions. She discovered he lived with his grandmother and that his mother was unemployed.
Maqoqa said she asked Aviwe’s permission to take a picture of his shoes to post on Facebook and he agreed. The post even reached
advocate Mthunzi Mhaga, national spokesman for the Department of Correctional Services and Justice, and one of the drivers of the 1Million Shoes Campaign.
Mhaga contacted Junior, a campaign ambassador, and informed him of Zondani’s plight.
Junior, after seeing the work the 1Million Shoes Campaign was doing in Johannesburg earlier this year, asked the team if he could work with them from the Eastern Cape.
When they agreed he roped in his friend and “right hand man” Siphosethu Nxafani and Selborne teacher Mark Doolan to help
convince the whole of Grade 10 at the school to partner in collecting shoes for needy pupils in the city.
“When we saw that Aviwe was from Mdantsane, we as a grade pushed to help him,” Nxumalo said.
Last Friday, together with Mhaga, they donated a pair of new school shoes and sport sneakers to Aviwe, the first pupil they have assisted.
Junior said he has always lived by the words “there are a lot of nice people in the world. But if you can’t find one, then you become one”.
He said they planned to donate many more shoes and called on residents and businesses to join the cause and donate.
Together with Doolan, the grade has now offered to take students from Vulamazibuko to Selborne for tutoring and sports training, an initiative born out of assisting Aviwe.
Maqoqa said there had been an overwhelming response to Aviwe’s need and she was now also starting a campaign: Help A Teacher Help A Child.
Once needy schools have been identified, the first donations will come from the extra shoes and clothes that the school received for Aviwe. — vuyiswav@dispatch.co.za
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