Waterkloof's staff spent the day at the crippled Sir Lowry's Pass Primary School dishing out nutritious soup, fresh bread and cool drinks and potato chips to 1000 needy scholars between the ages of 7 and 13.
"Sir Lowry's Pass Village is the closest community to Waterkloof. It is here where we choose to make a difference. Working with the Sir Lowry's Pass Village Empowerment Project we contributed towards the Sir Lowry's Pass Literacy Program this year. The program is aimed at the literacy development of most of the children aged 3-13 years," says Claudia Young-Kelly, sales and marketing manager at Waterkloof Estate.
The trust recently decided to build classrooms for an extended program which will provide early childhood development as well as numeracy and literacy development for about 1300 children in Sir Lowry's Pass Village. The final plan is to build eight classrooms and an office and exhibition room.
"The program has seen significant improvements in the capabilities of the children over the past three years. Reading improved by 200% on average per annum and literacy by 400% during 2012. It was great to view the progress of these classrooms during our visit on Thursday," says Young-Kelly.
These scholars live in dire conditions in the Sir Lowry's Pass Village. The lack of education coupled with HIV/Aids, drugs and alcohol abuse have contributed to a 40% unemployment rate with most of the inhabitants barely surviving, having to live without proper sanitation, electricity and water.
"By reaching out to the school, not only on Tata's special birthday, but throughout the year, we aim to assist wherever we can to improve the unfortunate social circumstances of this very poor community that has been largely forgotten. At Waterkloof we strive to take action, inspire change and make every day a Mandela Day with a focus on food security and literacy," adds Young-Kelly.
"Education improvement is the only route to a long term cohesive affluent South Africa," says Paul Boutinot, owner of Waterkloof.
For more information on the Sir Lowry's Pass Community Empowerment Project and its Sir Lowry's Pass Literacy Program, go to www.empowerment-project.org or contact Campher Serfontein on tel: +27 (0)83 655 5590.
