With the rainy season approaching, Ferdinand Primary School in Weenen will not need to worry about leaking roofs, as the South African Army is currently renovating the buildings at the school.

This particular school caters for Grade R to Grade 7 and has a total of 764 learners. Describing the condition of the buildings before the renovations, principal Ms Nelisiwe Kunene said the environment in which they had to work was not conducive to teaching and learning at all. She said they were faced with the challenge of badly ageing infrastructure.

“The buildings are old, since this is one of the old Roman Catholic Church missionary schools. We had been trying to do renovations with the little we had, but unfortunately it was not enough.” She added that the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education also provided them with temporary park home classes.

Another challenge the school faced was not having a proper kitchen with the required equipment; they used to make fire using wood to cook for the learners. Also, there were no flushing toilets due to not having a proper drainage system, plus poor road conditions.

According to SA Army communications officer Lieutenant Colonel Sipriano, this is not the first time they have undertaken a project of this nature. “The first challenge we encountered during our first visit to the school was the bad state of the road; we struggled to drive into the school. It was for this reason that we began by building an access road.”

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Sipriano added that, “Last year, we renovated an old age home in the Northern Cape. That was a very successful project, as we ended up renovating a war veteran’s home in the same area. This was after community members brought to our attention the state of his home while we were busy with the old age home.”

She said they identified Ferdinand Primary School with the help of all relevant stakeholders, including the Department of Education. Sipriano further said they embarked on various initiatives to raise funds for the school project. Firstly, they had a golf day in Pretoria.

On Wednesday last week (August 9), the SA Army Corporate Communication team took a drive through Ladysmith’s CBD to engage with external stakeholders such as municipalities, the business community and local media (print and radio) in order to market the Chief of the SA Army Community Outreach Project at Ferdinand Primary School.

The primary school’s dilapidated infrastructure is currently being refurbished by dedicated SA Army Engineer Corps artisans (plumbers, electricians and carpenters). “We call upon businesses to donate money, building materials, computer lab equipment and kitchen equipment, etc. We have had quotations from local shops, should any sponsors require that to be provided. We are hoping to hand over the completed project in October,” concluded Sipriano.

The news provided to you in this link comes to you from the editorial staff of the Ladysmith Gazette, a sold newspaper distributed in the Ladysmith area.

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