Student volunteers give Sunnyside tennis court a fresh look
“Our aim was to revitalise the tennis court in order to uplift the livelihoods of the residents of Sunnyside. It was inspiring to see about 15 locals also participating in improving their community.”
Student volunteers have given the shabby Sunnyside tennis court a fresh look.
About 40 of them were joined by ward 59 councillor Shaun Wilkinson and 15 other locals recently to give the court a facelift.
Wilkinson donated 40 litres of paint, 50 refuse bags, gloves and painting equipment.
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The volunteers are members of Asez WAO, an organisation of student volunteers around the world who are Church of God congregants.
“Our aim was to revitalise the tennis court in order to uplift the livelihoods of the residents of Sunnyside,” said chairperson Thabo Mahlangu.
“It was inspiring to see about 15 locals also participating in improving their community.
Mahlangu encouraged other youths to also take better care of their communities.
He said the court was quite dilapidated with vandalised and damaged facilities that made it inconvenient for Sunnyside residents to use, especially families.
“Four hours later, the clubhouse was completely unrecognisable. The members’ task required cleaning, scraping the walls, removing graffiti, painting and picking up litter within the vicinity,” he said.
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“Granted that it was a tedious task, but the volunteers were singing, smiling and not showing any signs of fatigue.”
Asez consists of young working members in about 8 000 branches worldwide.
“Pretoria and Johannesburg members, as well as all the branches of the Asez throughout the world selected the 7th of October to make a difference in their communities,” said volunteer Patience Mangwende.
“It is amazing to know that many lives were affected positively.”
Another volunteer, Fiona Motlhabi, said it was always refreshing “to deliver the new covenant through good deeds”.
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“Since God saves us through the Passover we too should be able to help our neighbours the best way we can.”
Mahlangu said Asez WAO was taking a step in the right direction “in the hope that the world will wake up, arise and join our movement to save the world from A to Z”.
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