A local non-profit organisation (NPO) recently ran a campaign to provide school shoes for a group of performing arts students in Kayamandi.
The organisation, Ranyaka Community Transformation (Ranyaka), ran the Sole Mates campaign from 16 March to 6 April in order to provide shoes for 35 students in the Smart Mission Entertainment group in Kayamandi, according to Sonya Olivier, marketing manager at Ranyaka.
The Sole Mates campaign aims to provide shoes for performing arts students in Kayamandi. PHOTO: Supplied/Sonya Olivier
“[The campaign] is about physically […] protecting a child from cuts and grazes,” said Olivier. “And then there’s a very strong psychosocial component to that as well.” Having shoes, she explained, speaks to dignity.
The Sole Mates campaign has received around R2 500 in donations with which to buy shoes, as well as 10 pairs of donated shoes, according to Olivier. Two international donors have pledged further funds, she added.
“It’s easier for people to give financially, so we’ve got more financial donations than actual shoes dropped off,” said Olivier.
The campaign was initiated after Siyabonga Mini, owner of Smart Mission Entertainment, identified a need for shoes among the students in his group. Mini told MatieMedia that his students are mostly primary school learners from Kayamandi, who attend Smart Mission Entertainment to receive performing arts training and complete schoolwork.
“That’s why I asked [for] the school shoes as well, so that I can help [the students], because some of them are wearing old shoes that are torn, that are already finished,” said Mini.
Members of Ranyaka Community Transformation, Amy Levendal, Susan Yallop and Sonya Olivier, working at Ranyaka head office. PHOTO: Tamsin Metelerkamp
The organisers of the Sole Mates campaign have decided to continue the shoe-drive throughout the year in order to provide for more groups in need, according to Olivier.
“I think it is something there will always be a need for,” said Amy Levendal, stakeholder and relationship manager at Ranyaka.
Mini said there is also a need for school supplies among his students as some of their parents were retrenched when the Covid-19 lockdown started.
“We need the shoes because most of the parents [haven’t worked] from March, because of Covid,” said Nomthanbazo Zisiwe, mother of one of Mini’s students.
While most contributions to the Sole Mates campaign have been monetary donations, 10 pairs of school shoes have been dropped off at Ranyaka’s head office. PHOTO: Tamsin Metelerkamp
As part of the Sole Mates campaign, a pen pal system is being set up to connect 20 Smart Mission Entertainment students with 20 students in Mamelodi, Pretoria, who also benefited from a shoe-drive at the beginning of 2021, according to Olivier.
“The idea being […] to engage with a learner who’s living 1 400km away, and talk about your lives and what you have in common,” said Olivier.