Team 731 organised and led an amazing opening ceremony. They have participated with enthusiasm and compassion, and not only have they made a difference to Mhlumeni community they have made a difference to themselves. Thank you students from St Helen and St Katharine School.
Here are some of the speeches that were made during the opening ceremony.
Building Teachers Accommodation
Over the past 10 days we’ve been the two project managers from our group for the teacher accommodation building site.
We arrived here with already strong foundations of a couple layers of brick in place, thanks to the community of local parents and builders, which allowed us to see substantial progress very quickly.
From our school group, we led a team of 7 hardworking individuals. Making 9 including ourselves with an additional 3 builders from nearby. All of which spent the great majority of their time dedicated to the advancement and development of these apartments. Over the course of our time here, there have been extremely productive days in which we were racing to prove our strengthen to the expert builders by carrying and laying bricks, filling gaps in walls and mixing cement. There were also slightly slower days, particularly towards the end as the building started becoming too high for us to add to, at which point Kya and I were able to find alternative jobs for our team, for example sashing in the vegetable patch, in order to maximise our short and precious time here.
Every day we have thoroughly enjoyed and been very motivated by seeing our rapid progress therefore it was sometimes difficult to not be able to contribute directly to the accommodation. However, everyone still managed to get completely stuck in with whatever task we gave them. I think we’re all extremely pleased to see the impacts we’ve had on multiple locations around school.
We think our work here was necessary as it has become known to us the great distances many of the staff are required to travel to teach at this school, and that some stay with other families within the community, so having their own homes would repay their priceless contributions over the years and show all of our immense appreciation for their hard work.
Each apartment includes space for a bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen, and an outside area fit for a veranda, we’re excited to know the great use that people will get out of the accommodation deck in the future, and our school’s legacy being added to during our stay and being left here after we’ve gone.
We will be eternally grateful for having the opportunity of being part of such an incredible experience; thank you to Headmaster Martin for always being a friendly face and offering to help wherever possible. Thank you to the builders for being so patient with all of us, especially to Kondani, who we were constantly begging for more work. Thank you to the whole community and student body for being so welcoming and enthusiastic everyday we’ve been here; and thank you to our families at home who made this entire project possible.
Thank you so much for listening, we will always remember our time building here, and we hope that you never forget us either!
Completing the Science Block Build
When we arrived at Mhlumeni High School, the science block was 4 rows high and there were piles of dirt in front of the classrooms to be used to level the ground. After 10 days of working alongside and other workers and parent helpers, we have learnt the very basics of brick laying, mixing concrete, and being on a building site. Each day, we saw the science block grow taller, seeing all our efforts pay off.
In the future, we hope that many generations of students can use the science block to share our love of science. We are excited that students will be able to enjoy performing and watching practical experiments. We also hope that the space will be used to expand the school by providing another classroom for all subjects so be taught in, as well as providing a space for scientific research and innovation in science.
Thank yous
We want to firstly thank the Ministry of Education for funding the roof for the science block so that it has the ability to be finished and completed. Next we want to thank the community leaders for enabling us to carry out this project. We want to thank Martin (the head teacher), the students and the community of Mhlumeni for being so kind and welcoming to us over the course of our stay.
Thank you to the builders for teaching us their ways and for all their hard work on the project.
We are all so grateful that we have had the opportunity to work on such an important project which is so close to our heart. It has been amazing.
We wouldn’t be here without Jenny and Sense Earth, so our last thank you goes to her for bringing us to this incredible community.
