Kyalami-based school plant fruit trees in light of Arbour Week

Learners from The Matriarch in Kyalami have taken responsibility for a tree to grow fruits for those in need.

September 19, 2022

Khomotso Makgabutlane 1 minute read

Staff members Layla Szeili plants a peach tree at The Matriarch. Photo: Khomotso Makgabutlane

The Matriarch in Kyalami saw their learners make a green and fruity contribution to Arbour Week on September 7.

Learner from The Matriarch, Aiden van Niekerk plants his apple tree. Photo: Khomotso Makgabutlane

Learners at the school planted close to 18 fruit trees, including apple, peach, and nectarine trees, that were donated by Fruitasia Fruit Trees for a new community project in which fruit will be donated to the community once fully ripe.

Staff member at The Matriarch Roxanne Szeili assists with the fruit tree planting at the school. Photo: Khomotso Makgabutlane

Teacher at the school Pamela Blazeby emphasised the importance of having the learners look after the trees themselves as time goes by. Currently, the school is also working on funding a sprinkler system to water the trees and garden.

Fruitopia Fruit Trees donate fruit trees to learners at The Matriarch for their Arbour Week community project where the trees will be planted and fruits harvested.

“We don’t have a sprinkler system yet, it’s something that’s in the pipeline. We are doing all the funding with raffles and similar to get the irrigation system in where we will use all the grey water from the school which in turn saves the environment,” she said.

Leslie Marumo gets her fruit tree ready to be watered. Photo: Khomotso Makgabutlane

The school had started a vegetable garden earlier in the year where they planted onions, beans, tomatoes, peppers, spinach, beetroot, chillies and a range of herbs.

Amelia Blazeby is proud of her newly planted tree at The Matriarch. Photo: Khomotso Makgabutlane

The goal with that project was to distribute packets of vegetables to people and organisations in need in the community.
Once the fruit has grown, it will be donated to members of the community in need of food, much like the ongoing vegetable project. Blazeby said the learners will get to enjoy the fruits of their labour when the produce is fully ready.

Amelia Blazeby, Leslie Marumo and Caylin Neuendorf give their newly planted fruit tree some water. Photo: Khomotso Makgabutlane

“Once the fruits get big, they will really be huge producers and they are going to go the community. We’ll be handing out to the Diepsloot community, single mothers in need and children too. We know about a few NPOs that we can hand the fruit to that will pass on to the school children.

Kayne Hands has some fun with a freshly dug hole for his fruit tree. Photo: Khomotso Makgabutlane

“Some fruit will go to the learners for them to enjoy. When I was younger, we used to climb the trees and eat the fruit there, so it’s a way to get the children to be a part of nature.”