Schools in and around Mbekweni have been graced by the passion of Human Nature Community Project (HNCP), which set out to renovate their sanitary facilities and toilets.
During the October holidays, the NPO oversaw renovations to the Desmond Mpilo Tutu Secondary School in Funda, Mbekweni.
“It started in 2019 as a sanitary drive,” Asiphe Kamte told Paarl Post. “The idea came from Shane Titana who approached me, his cousin, for advice.
“He wanted to start a sanitary drive initiative and asked me about the overall challenges. I told him there are a lot of school children who go to school without, or even miss school, due to the lack of sanitary towels.”
Together they started this project by asking for donations for this cause.
HNCP was then born and officially registered as a non-profit organisation, and they have been donating to schools ever since.
Said Kamte: “We started at Mbekweni high schools such as Desmond Mpilo Secondary, with donations of necessities like sanitary towels, school shoes and socks, stationery . . . the works. And now we are taking a further step by renovating their toilets.”
The latest renovations have been the projects biggest so far, costing more than R80 000.
“Before we started, only four out of the 32 toilets were functional for a school with more than 1 800 learners. Other renovations include 13 toilets at Imboniselo Primary and another seven toilets at Dal Josaphat Primary.”
All donations and funds helping HNCP reach its goals are from local businesses and communities.
The cousins extended their efforts to other primary schools in the area, such as Langabuya Primary, Imboniselo Primary and Mbekweni Primary School.
Titana added that all the schools had expressed great appreciation for their initiative.
“They love that people from Mbekweni are giving back to their schools,” he pointed out. “You can tell that they truly need and depend on people like us, who have roots in this community.
“It’s all about giving hope to the children and it also instils self-respect as well as a sense of belonging.”
Although the heart of the project has beaten very much for Mbekweni, HNCP now look to do extend its reach even further, to other communities.
“We decided not just to focus on Mbekweni, but to move to primary schools in Wellington,” Kamte said. “We’ve donated to Hermon Library, to Dal Josaphat Primary in Paarl and some schools in Stellenbosch as well.
“Lately, we’ve continued to expand our efforts to soup kitchens in the area. We’re assisting them with groceries like their staple foods, such as pap, rice, cooking oil and milk. So far we are assisting three soup kitchens and plan to focus on aiding their needs.”
For more information on the drive and progress being made by this project, which is garnering inspiration and respect across Drakenstein and beyond, please visit Human Nature Community Project’s page on Facebook.
