By Lungi Langa
Gift of the Givers brought joy and relief to children at a number of Durban schools that were ravaged by the KwaZulu-Natal floods in April last year.
The humanitarian organisation made sure that pupils at Insizwakazi Primary School in Klaarwater near Chatsworth had a functioning school when it officially opened for the new school year on Tuesday.
Zama Zondi, a grade 7 pupil, said they appreciated what the Gift of the Givers team did for their school. “We are grateful to you all, more than words could ever express,” said Zondi.
The infrastructure was refurbished by the organisation after the school was devastated by the April floods last year.
Insizwakazi is one of four schools that were upgraded with a R40-million fix up of the school’s floors, ceilings, windows, doors, toilets, classrooms, electricity faults and even entire buildings.
This school, along with Port Natal Skool, Tyburn Primary and Mason Lincoln Special School were reconstructed schools that were handed over this week.
Dr Imtiaz Sooliman of Gift of the Givers said the children’s future depended on a solid education.
“Education is dependent on infrastructure and teaching. Not much could be done during Covid-19, but when it came to the April floods in KZN remedial measures could be put in place to have schools fully functional,” said Sooliman.
He said that the organisation, through its construction partner Altacon Projects, did repairs at several schools simultaneously so that learners could return to a safe environment that was conducive to teaching and learning.
The team also fixed problems unrelated to the floods as many of the schools were in a sorry state because hardly any maintenance was done over the years.
Principal of Insizwakazi Primary, Lindiwe Mbanjwa, said they were already in despair when the floods came.
“The girls’ toilets weren’t working due to a problem with the sewage system,” she said. “We had knocked on every door since November 2021 but no one helped.”
After fixing the girls’ toilets the team fixed the roof of the kitchen, a ceiling board in one of the classrooms and other problems.
Pictured above: Insizwakazi Primary School after it was restored by Gift of the Givers
Image source: Gift of the Givers
