VISIT TO RAMATU HIGH SCHOOL

After collecting Mpilo and Thebe from Magogoe we travelled through the stunning countryside, to Zeerust and Ramatu High School where we were briefed by the Principal and introduced to the staff we would be working with for the day.

Cat then addressed the students, and asked them to give us the wonderful gift of singing us "Never Give Up" - our unofficial theme song. The sound cannot be described -- it has to be heard to be believed -- the students sung like angels.

This was our second workshop with the students from Ramatu, who first completed their Community Audit last July and it was now time for them to start their Project Development process to address some of their concerns about their community. Their main concerns were poverty, teenage pregnancy, alcohol and drug abuse, child abuse, waste management at the school and lack of sporting resources and facilitites.

After sharing their concerns, students were treated to an improvised performance by the MK Team to outline our journey. This was the MK team problem solving as all the materials we wanted to show them were on our laptop, and the electricity supply to the school was too intermittent for us to run our gear.

From the concerns tabled by the students, some small project ideas were formed as part of the MK Green Teams 10 Steps process. A commitment was made by MKGP leader Tebogo, who would coordinate the projects that will now form part of a proposed conference in the area in September.

The Principal , Mr Selebogo was very keen to take up some of the ideas put forward by the students such as the provision of rubbish bins with student designed health messages painted on them relating to HIV/AIDS, teenage pregnancy and alcohol. Also the development of a food garden to educate the student on food production to address poverty in the community was a popular idea for further discussion.

The MK team was entertained by traditional dancing and we were priviledged to present the school with goodwill gifts and sporting equipment. Funding has also been allocated to assist the school with their sustainability initiatives.

The gift of a traditional rope presented to Catrina was greatfully received, and provided much entertainment to the team for the rest of the afternoon!!!

We toured slowly back to Mafikeng, taking in the sights along the way, meeting some local characters and getting a feel for this spectacular area.