Gift of the Givers Foundation supports education service-learning project

A service-learning project, run by the Education Department at the Wellington Campus, has received a much-needed donation from the Gift of the Givers Foundation.

The foundation, which is the largest disaster response non governmental organisation of African origination on the African continent, lends a helping hand to organisations, countries and individuals who are in need.

Since the foundation’s establishment several years ago, they have delivered over R360 million in aid to 27 countries around the world, including South Africa.

Apart from their disaster relief activities, the foundation lends a helping hand to organisations, schools, projects and individuals who are in need.

The foundation recently donated funds to the Education Department, which will enable them to feed learners from poor and rural schools involved in their Inclusive Education Learner Support Project.

The project, which has been running for several years, is one of the most successful service-learning projects at CPUT.

Irene Lewis, an Inclusive Education Lecturer who is spearheading the initiative, said the project sees Education students providing tutoring to 200 learners from rural schools in the Wellington area over a 10 week period.

Many of the learners have learning problems and through the project have access to individual tutoring in literacy, numeracy and motor skills.

However, Lewis said the learners, who are bussed to the campus once a week for the lessons, often arrive hungry and are unable to concentrate.

“On one occasion a learner was laying with his head on the desk. He told us that he was dizzy because he had not eaten. He said he ate his last meal the previous night,” said Lewis.

Debbie Cilliers, an Inclusive Education Lecturer who is also a convenor on the project said learning is not possible if learners are hungry.

Unable to rely on ad hoc donations for feeding the learners, the lecturers approached the Service-Learning Unit for assistance, who then secured funding from the Gift of the Givers Foundation.

Gawa Sayed, a representative from the foundation said they are passionate about education and did not hesitate to make funds available to feed the learners for the duration of the project.

Sayed, who visited the Wellington campus to see the project in action, said she was impressed with the level of commitment from staff, students and learners including how well the project was run.

On arrival to the campus, learners meet up with their student tutors and then enjoy lunch. They are then taken to various venues where they receive individual tutoring.

Jacqui Scheepers, Manager of the Service-Learning Unit said the Education Department’s project is an excellent model for other service-learning projects.

By Candes Keating

Written by CPUT News
Email: news@cput.ac.za