Curro Waterstone learners among the #HOPEtober essay writing winners
Stories of Hope showcased by Curro’s and The Ithemba Foundation’s initiatives
As young, budding writers, being chosen by award-winning journalists Marianne Tham, Rebecca Davis, Dana Snyman or Erns Grundling as one of the winners of the Curro and Ithemba Foundation’s #HOPEtober essay writing competition is no small feat.
But this is what Curro learners did this past week. Receiving top billing out of 286 entrants, the learners from Grades Six to 10 each shared what hope means to them while encouraging South Africans to keep hope alive as we continue to move forward through the pandemic.
Two Curro Waterstone learners are among the winners of the Curro and Ithemba Foundation’s #HOPEtober essay writing competition.
In English primary schools, Curro Waterstone’s Nala Vilakazi won the second prize (R1 000) while Mehul Morar won the third prize (R500).
The competition is part of the collaboration between Ithemba’s October Mental Health Awareness efforts and Curro’s #HopeToHeal campaign.
Judge Marianne Thamm said, “The essays captured the past two years and how South Africans have had to hope and continue to hope,” while Rebecca Davis encouraged an entrant that “you can be a future journalist!”
Dana Snyman said it was insightful to read how the youth experience Covid-19 and what hope means to them.
“Hope, as both a verb and a noun, is something that we as South Africans need to hold dear as we continue to face untold challenges and difficulties brought on by Covid-19,” said Mari Lategan, Curro’s executive: corporate services.
“It has not been an easy 18 months but it is critical that during such tough times that we keep perspective and believe in a better tomorrow. Our young people have great insight and are the future of our country, they give us hope.
“It is this that the entrants of the competition have captured so eloquently in their writing and I wish all the winners a round of applause for their creative and technical skills,” said Lategan.
She said that the reaction on the call to enter was ‘overwhelming and, ‘so necessary’.
