VUYO MKIZE
HE SLOWLY takes the items out of the bulging blue plastic bag, one by one.
One short-sleeved white school shirt. Check. One pair of small-sized grey school pants. Check. A blue school jersey, tracksuit, blue and white striped tie, shoes and a pair of socks. Check, check, check.
The plastic bag is just one of 52 similar bags.
Soweto businessman and tour guide Ntokozo Dube’s face brightens as it dawns on him that his dream of providing school uniforms for disadvantaged children in his community before schools reopen next week has finally come true.
“Education is the only way out of certain communities, particularly this one… and how can one value that education without taking pride in the way you look?
“For kids to change their lives I knew it would take us, as the community, to support and help where we could,” Dube said.
And as fate would have it, a group of tourists who work for a Swedish steel company were more than happy to assist Dube in his quest.
After compiling a list of 52 children (going to primary and high schools) from single-parent homes, non-profit organisations and orphanages in Kliptown, it was all systems go.
Dube said: “The company raised R30 000 for this initiative, and with that money we’ve bought everything from school shoes to ties. The uniform we bought covers the summer and winter seasons for each child.”
The 52 school packs will be handed out tomorrow afternoon at the Soweto Hotel and Conference Centre in Kliptown.
Dube said he hopes the support will “alter the mindsets of the children”.
“The hotel is giving us a space to hold the handing-out ceremony free of charge. For some kids it will be their first time inside a four-star hotel.
“My dream is to see a school built in our community for all our children, and I know that we, as a community, can make it happen,” Dube added.