Delta Primary School in Retreat, Cape Town, has a FoodTent thanks to the kindness and generosity of the Thebe Tourism Group........

On Saturday 28th November 2009, the staff of Thebe Tourism Group, learners and teachers from Delta Primary, parents and a few community members joined Love to Africa to build a FoodTent for the school.

The school has Grades R-7 and currently has 850 learners from the neighbouring areas of Capricorn and Montague Village. They have an existing feeding scheme in the form of a Food Kitchen Container. It is supported by the Peninsula Feeding Scheme and they have a little support from the community in terms of bread donations. Approximately half the children are fed through this scheme (from the lower income groups) The produce from the FoodTent will be used to supplement their feeding scheme as well as be part of the school Environmental Club to teach children about agricultural, food growth and caring for the environment.

The Thebe Tourism Group is a 100%-owned subsidiary of Thebe Investment Corporation. Formed in 2001, the group is the oldest black-empowered South African tourism group and has a significant portfolio in tourism and related industries, offering innovative, integrated market-driven products.

 The day started with a warm Love to Africa welcome and getting into our funky orange overalls. The participants were then taken on a tour of the school by the Grade 6 teacher Mr Solomon giving everyone an idea of the successes and challenges of Delta Primary School. Meghan from heart's FoodTents project gave the children a short lesson on how to successfully grow vegetables and why we plant them in this kind of structure. Then the fun and hard work really started with everyone dividing up into teams - Meghan took on the tent structure team and Dan (from heart) looked after the nursery bag/ seedling packers! Everyone from Thebe Tourism partnered up with a learner from Delta Primary. The day was lots of fun, learning about each other and vegetable planting, having lots of fun and working together towards the common goal of building a FoodTent. We even had a camera man there to capture the day. Packing lines were formed to move all the cabbage and spinach plants into the tent, banners put onto the tent and group photos!

 Afterwards while Meghan taught the teachers and learners how to mix the nutrients and water the plants, the Thebe Tourism Staff Members gathered in the quad to write a few wishes on colourful blessing flags-inspirational messages to be hung up in the staff room. A boerewors braai and drinks followed with a lovely closing ceremony.

 The day was a huge success thanks to the passion and energy from everyone. A BIG thank you to the Thebe Tourism Group for their kind sponsorship of the day and the FoodTent. To Margie Henry and Mr Solomon (teachers from Delta Primary School) for all their hard work in helping prepare for the day. To all the wonderful learners of Delta Primary for their passion, enthusiasm and hard work and for coming into school on a Saturday with such excitement! To the parents, teachers and Mrs Jacobs (the principle) for helping out and for hosting us at your wonderful school! Thank you to Ruan Labuschagne from Ooze for all his hard work and time that he gave to filming the day and his interviews..you are a champ! Also a big thank you to Pick n Pay 4 Energi for their kind sponsorship of the bottled water and energy drinks - they were very much appreciated on what was a very hot day! To Marcelle and Marya from SynerG for their help in facilitating the drinks.

 For the full photo Gallery please click here

 Wishing you lots of healthy vegetables and success in the future!

 For more information on the Thebe Tourism Group please see their website 

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