Travelling to and from work every day, Mr Mandla Mkhwanazi, who is a finance consultant at African Bank’s head office in Midrand, saw Winnie Mandela Secondary School out of the window and decided he needed to help.
“The school has around 1 800 learners and I realised that it is one of the most disadvantaged schools in Tembisa. The school does not even have a building. The students attend classes in movable containers. It is right in the middle of the informal settlement,” said Mr Mkhwanazi.
Mr Mkhwanazi took it upon himself to motivate it as a worthy community project for African Bank.
“I thought this would be my chance to make a change at the school. I was so excited that I didn’t waste time. I went straight to my colleagues to tell them about the project. They were so interested that everyone started coming up with ideas as to how we could help the school.”
His vision became a reality in October when Mr Mkhwanazi and his colleagues from African Bank visited the school.
“They needed sanitary pads for the girls to minimise absenteeism and a vegetable garden to help with the feeding scheme. We bought them all the equipment and seeds needed for the garden, as well as 95 boxes of sanitary pads for all 870 girls in the school,” added Mr Mkhwanazi.
For Mr Mkhwanazi, the day of the handover was one of the most fulfilling days of his life.
“To see the smiles from all those learners and the teachers was wonderful. We will be returning in January to deliver more boxes of sanitary pads and we have tablet devices for the best performers to try and motivate them to do better and improve their marks,” he said.
His goal is to ensure the project remains continuous, maintainable and successful.
“With African Bank on board and the team dedicated to the project, I believe this goal will be a reality,” said Mr Mkhwanazi.
The aim of this project is to build a vegetable tunnel to bring more school land under cultivation and to produce food for the school, providing good nutrition and a place for children and teachers to work together.
This project is part of a greater plan to provide support and mentorship to this school.