Friday’s chilly morning was no match against the warmed hearts of Mbekweni’s Desmond Mpila Tutu Secondary School learners, who were gifted with an astroturf by the Gift of the Givers Foundation and Total Energies.
No level of formality could contain the learners’ excitement to proudly represent their school on an evergreen, state-of-the-art astroturf.
Their cheers were such they could be heard a few kilometres away the moment the first ball hit the ground at the opening of the field.
Principal Phumelele Tsewu said the school was proud to receive this very worthy facility for sports activities that will benefit the future of Mbekweni’s youth.
“There were people who asked me, ‘Do you think this school is deserving of such a sport field?’, because sometimes people put you in a box or slap you with labels that don’t represent the truth.
“We as a school are deserving, because we will keep these facilities fit and safe, not only for this generation of learners, but many to come!”
What made the day doubly special was the celebration of Africa Day.
The representative of the school student body Asanda Adam, on behalf of his peers, expressed sincere gratitude. “We thank Gift of the Givers as well as Total Energies. The field is beautiful; we love it! We pledge to take care of it and protect it.
“Before, we did not have a proper field to host sports events. Now we are ready to host games and invite schools all over the community to enjoy this field together.”
Principal of Weltevrede Secondary School Lee Adonis, who represented the district office of the Western Cape Education Department, at the event gleefully asked the learners who this field was built for. He got the desired response; “us!” was the learners’ very enthusiastic reply.
“It’s yours! And like anything else you possess, such as a cellphone, would you allow anyone to damage what is yours?” Adonis asked again. “No!” the students again replied.
“It is very important for you to appreciate and honour this astroturf,” he pointed out, “not only for yourselves, but future generations, even your very own children who may be enrolled here in future. It is what you deserve, but it will be of no use if one day you return and this field is no more,” said Adonis.
Augustinah Mabuyo of Total Energies explained that the company had made a shift in 2021 to create affordable and sustainable energy across many fields of natural resources.
“But we are also proud sponsors of many sporting events,” she added, “such as this year’s Rugby World Cup, to be hosted in France. That is why we gladly partnered with Gift of the Givers on this sport field. As Total Energies we have a commitment to schools. Like Gift of the Givers we want to be seen in our communities.”
The man of the hour, whom Tsewu said gave him the experience of being “in the presence of greatness”, was the renowned Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, founder and director of Gift of the Givers Foundation.
Sooliman referred to a tendency among some world powers not to deem Africa as being “relevant”. “You ought to make Africa relevant, and not leave it to somebody else!” he said.
“You can have the best infrastructure, the best school, the best teachers, but if you don’t have the best character you have nothing. Character, faith, spirituality, morality, values, respect for women, respect for yourself are what you need.”
The great giver went on to say Africans are a people with great spirit. “We need to show the world that Africans are spiritually-oriented people. We have a spirit of ubuntu, we care for and love one another.”
To illustrate this he told the story of a rural school in Vereeniging, Gauteng, where children were impoverished, having no school shoes, bags, lunch boxes, let alone lunch.
“These schoolchildren were told of children in Somalia dying of hunger and famine. They afterwards succeeded in raising R40 000 for those children, for somebody somewhere else. That is the spirit of ubuntu in our country.
“We can have a problem with Eskom, we can have difficulty, but we are a very resilient nation. We can make things work if we want to, but we have to do it in partnership.”
