Bovet alumni donate jerseys to spare 100 learners from winter chill
Thanks to its former learners, 100 children at Bovet Primary will face the cold season warmly dressed this year.
Winter does not spare anyone, least of all vulnerable learners in Alexandra who often head to school without proper jerseys.
For many families, the season brings the familiar worry, how will their children stay warm, but this year, that worry has been lifted for 100 Bovet Primary learners. Organisations led by the school’s alumni, the Ndaa Foundation, and iRunWithThemba, alongside Moubane Legacy Foundation (MLF) and Vib Foundation, through the MLF Youth Day School Winter Drive, donated 100 brand-new jerseys to learners at the school.
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Kenny Hlaise, chairperson of the Ndaa Foundation and a Bovet alumnus who once walked the same grounds without a jersey to fight the winter chill, said supporting the learners has been his main objective. “I was once among those who did not have jerseys and shoes.”
What started as a modest donation of 20 jerseys has grown into a full-scale winter drive, after a successful gala dinner organised together with another Bovet alumnus, Themba Bila, founder of iRunWithThemba.
Bila said this was first and foremost an act of love. “One of the most pressing needs that people have is love. To love, support, or care about someone does not need much. Not money, just you, and it goes a long way.” Bila said he was elated that a hundred families will be smiling today.
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Hlaise, however, said the joy of seeing 100 smiling faces is always tempered by the reality that the need keeps growing, especially in Bovet, which has roughly 2 800 learners. “Every time you come here, the feeling is different. You give to a hundred kids, but you know others still need help.” Still, he keeps showing up, year after year.
Teacher Tshifhiwa Mudzanani, who helps manage the uniform department, said the donation came at the right time. “I am speechless. Most of our learners don’t have jerseys, shoes, or socks, especially with so many parents not working. To have 100 children helped during winter, we feel truly blessed.”
The alumni believe that, as the cold season continues, these 100 learners will carry the knowledge that their community loves and stands with them.
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