Penreach celebrates with awards and a tradition of excellence

With roaring drums, a quote from the movie Black Panther and loud cheers from the audience, the annual Penreach Awards ceremony kicked off on Saturday morning.

December 3, 2018

Arisa Janse van Rensburg 1 minute read

MBOMBELA – This year’s theme was “A tradition of excellence”, however the film’s theme also came out strongly and master of ceremonies, Ronald Chanetsa, entertained guests with references throughout the morning.

Penreach, a local NGO, hosts this event annually to honour the teachers, community members, corporate institutions and representatives from Penryn who support and take hands with them every year.

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As part of the organisation’s programme, Artreach, guests were also treated to a variety of performances by Fundinjobo Secondary School’s choir (which included Penryn members), marimba and djembe bands, and solos from representatives from both Fundinjobo and Penryn.

It was the 2010 hit, “Waka Waka”, that had the crowd on their feet for the first time and from there, they could not be stopped.

A new tradition was also introduced, called the Penreach Pledge. Here patrons had the opportunity to pledge a certain amount of money to a Penreach project.

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The true meaning of the morning, however, was to celebrate the teachers and the schools that have become a part of Penreach and that have shown immense growth.

The awards and winners for 2018 were:
• Early childhood development (ECD) centre of the year: Sigcinekile Preschool.
• ECD practitioner of the year: Sabelo Mncina.
• Teacher of the year: Busisiswe Madholphe.
• School of the year: Vukasambe Primary.
• Val Morris Reading Camp volunteer of the year: Trice Nukeri.

And just as the sun set in Wakanda, the fictional land in the movie, so the awards had to come to an end with thunderous drums and dancing.