This past Saturday, thirteen lucky DStv subscribers and their partners were flown down to Cape Town (kindly sponsored by 1time airlines) to participate in DStv's "Giving Back" Community Project Day. The project was to build a FoodTent* for Sokhanyo Primary School in Gugulethu. The day started at the Commodore Hotel near the V + A waterfront where the participants were met by the Love to Africa*  team who facilitated the entire day.

After a short welcome, the participants were whisked away via coach to the vibrant and colourful township of Gugulethu located a short 20 minute drive outside Cape Town. They enjoyed a fantastic buffet luncheon at Liziwe's Guesthouse before heading off on a short tour of the sights of Gugulethu facilitated by local student Manelisi Jack. The highlight of the tour was undoubtedly the food market where they got to see "smileys" (braaid sheep heads) and various other local delicacies and some participants even managed a bit of shopping.

We were met at Sokhanyo Primary School by the beautiful singing of some of the learners and after signing in, the participants were warmly welcomed by Melba, the headmistress of the school. After a short introduction the participants, dressed in their brightly coloured orange overalls, divided into teams and got stuck in. The tent team ensured that the structure was erected in a record half hour whilst the planting team got 300 nutrient bags prepared with sawdust and soil. Beetroot, spinach, parsnip and lettuce seedlings were carefully planted in their new homes before the group formed two production lines and packed the tent full of new healthy vegetable bags. The learners from Sokhanyo Primary worked alongside the DStv participants planting seedlings and filling nutrient bags. There was a great sense of teamwork and fun with everyone working well together.

Within 2 hours Sokhanyo Primary had their very own FoodTent- a sustainable source of fresh vegetables to help supplement their existing feeding scheme. The DStv participants wrote inspirational messages on pieces of brightly coloured material called "blessing flags" which were hung up in the staffroom. The team posed in front of their hard day’s work for a group shot before some closing thanks and acknowledgments. The FoodTents team showed the school's caretaker how to take care of the vegetables and will provide on-going maintenance to the school to care for the vegetables and the FoodTent. New friends were made and the participants left for the Waterfront knowing that they had made a difference and that their hard work would be remembered long after they had left. On arrival back at the hotel, the participants had a great surprise waiting for them - all participants received a 6 bottle box of "Wines with heart" *  mystery box compliments of DStv.  The rest of their weekend was at leisure and the group returned back to their homes in Johannesburg and Durban early  Monday morning.

Many thank yous to DStv for their very kind and generous sponsorship of the “Giving Back” day and Sokhanyo Primary School's FoodTent and to Sokhanyo Primary School for their hospitality on a magical community day enjoyed by all. A big thank you to Liziwe’s Guesthouse for hosting our delicious luncheon and to Manelisi Jack for his wonderful tourguide experience. 

Click here for full photo gallery of the day.

* Love to Africa develops and markets volun-tourism opportunities for local and international tourists wanting to participate in community upliftment projects in Cape Town. Love to Africa also develops and implements corporate employee volunteer programs. FoodTents are like shade cloth tents which offer a sustainable, cost-effective, low maintenance solution to provide those most in need with fresh vegetables on an ongoing basis. Profits from Wines with heart’s are invested into organisations in the winelands that deal with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and severe learning disabilities. Love to Africa, FoodTents and Wines with heart are all projects run by local non-profit organisation heart. (www.heartglobal.org)

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