A donation of 20 pairs of school shoes was made to 20 needy learners at Matsavane Primary School based in Agincourt, Mpumalanga Province as part of an initiative led by Dr. Ntiyiso Nxumalo, a Xitsonga lecturer at the University of Limpopo (UL)
The substantial donation was made as part of a community outreach project facilitated by Dr. Nxumalo that reached out to Matsavane Primary School, where a significant proportion of learners come from disadvantaged backgrounds and some are orphaned.
According to Dr. Nxumalo, the donation was part of an outreach aimed at giving back to the community and providing school shoes to underprivileged learners.
“Within a month, the team has managed to purchase 60 pairs which will be donated to three schools (20 pairs per school, 10 pairs for boys, and 10 pairs for girls),” Dr. Nxumalo explained. In February 2022, he presented the first 20-pair donation to Matsavane Primary School, during a graduation party at which he was a guest speaker.
Dr. Nxumalo urged the learners in his speech to be useful wherever they are, to contribute to the development of their community, to gather knowledge from school and wherever they walk, to not envy being a leader but to learn to serve, and finally, to have an impact on others.
“It is critical to understand that if we do not develop our own communities, no one will do it for us,” Dr. Nxumalo said.
Dr. Nxumalo stated that they still want to impact more schools through the far-reaching project to extend their goodwill.
“There are two more outstanding schools that we are attempting to impact as well,” he said, adding that the initiative intends to have other community projects such as training locals in practical skills such as carpentry, sewing, welding, crafting, and others.
Dr. Nxumalo and his team stated that the long-term goal of this initiative is to ensure that community members can rely on their practical knowledge to put food on the table.
“We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Nxumalo and his team for reaching out to our school with the 60 pairs of school shoes,” said Matsavane Primary School Principal, Sainah Nxumalo.
The principal added that the gesture was life-changing for learners from low-income families. She added that the benefit to the children was that it would restore hope by raising their morale in school and letting them know they are not alone in this world.
Dr. Nxumalo extended his gratitude to all stakeholders and his team members who made the donation a success.
By Reuben Maake