Grade 10 pupils from Bryanston-based school Michael Mount Waldorf turned compassion into action during a community service camp at Genesis Hope in Port Shepstone from August 31 to September 4.

Genesis Hope is an outreach ministry that supports local communities by addressing physical, social, emotional and spiritual needs associated with extreme poverty and other social challenges.

For the pupils, the camp was the culmination of a year focused on community work. Throughout Grade 10, they were encouraged to give back through fundraising, school events and community service.

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The experience at Genesis Hope allowed the pupils to step beyond their familiar surroundings and engage directly with people and communities facing circumstances different from their own.

Hands-on outreach work

During the week, pupils spent time at a baby care centre caring for children awaiting adoption, participated in after-school programmes, supported elderly people through community care initiatives and visited safe play and safe place centres, providing support to children and young people. They also planted trees, washed dishes at underfunded schools and helped tend to wounds.

Grade 10 guardian Emily Stokes said the pupils faced increasingly demanding days but continued to approach each responsibility with commitment.

“Without complaint or question, they planted trees in communities, washed dishes at underfunded schools, and tended to wounds. The struggle was abundant, but so too was the love, the effort, and the sense of responsibility,” said Stokes.

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Another message that stayed with the pupils came from Genesis Hope founder Trevor Downham. Amanda-Bea Rehman, a Grade 10 guardian, said Downham’s words, ‘I can’t stand no more’, inspired by Popeye, became a powerful question for the pupils.

The phrase challenged them to consider what they might encounter that would move them deeply enough to take action rather than simply look away.

Building empathy and local impact

The camp also encouraged pupils to reflect on the inequalities within South Africa and their own access to education, resources and opportunities. Rehman said the pupils were invited to meet, listen, connect and serve, entering homes and hearing people’s stories while experiencing the dignity, warmth and strength within communities facing significant socioeconomic challenges.

The Grade 10s also contributed before arriving at Genesis Hope, organising a fundraiser, with proceeds donated towards the organisation’s outreach programmes.

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They further delivered sanitary pads, donated by Grade 12 pupil Amaya Fang da Fonseca whose matric art project focused on period poverty.

After receiving a generous donation of sanitary pads from Galencia Properties, she chose Genesis Hope as a beneficiary because of her own memories of visiting the organisation during her Grade 10 camp. The donated pads were distributed to young girls at two safe play after-school centres.

For the pupils, the experience was ultimately about more than completing community-service activities. They returned with greater empathy, gratitude and awareness of the socioeconomic realities around them, while gaining confidence in their own ability to contribute meaningfully.

As Rehman reflected, community is not simply a place to belong to, but something to help build.

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