Mother city welcomes children from Wellington for cultural & diversity excursion!
The day started with the feeling of disbelieve, excitement, laughter and tears of joy as a group of 33 children and 12 adults gathered at the Dalene Foundation’s house. Children from Wellington, van Wyksvlei and Weltevrede gathered and waited in anticipation for the bus to arrive. The sight of the bus broad great excitement and tears of joy as they boarded the luxury bus for their first visit to the Mother City.
You can see the full article on the Son Newspaper here
The children were excited but anxious, as they have never ventured on such a long bus trip. There were mixed feelings of joy and anxiety at the sight of the mountains as they drove into Cape Town. They were overwhelmed at the sight of Cape Town, the harbor, the buildings and the beautiful views. Most of the learners had only seen photographs of the Mother City in their text books. The adults, including local artists, Q Rock and the Ward Councillor, Ruth Arnolds that accompanied the group, were overwhelmed by the emotion shown by the youth. Councillor Ruth Arnolds said it was indeed a great opportunity for the children to visit Cape Town and to learn about the history at the same time.
The group was welcomed by the friendly SA Jewish Museum facilitators and enjoyed the Cultural and Diversity programme, where they engaged in activities looking at the main religions of the world; prejudice and discrimination; xenophobia; bullying; religious and cultural tolerance; building personal values. The children enjoyed sandwiches, juices and fruit as part of the excursion.
The children were taken on a scenic walk through Company Gardens where they had the opportunity to wonder at the beauty of different flowers and trees, not to mention the squirrels and birds. A real treat for the children!
Dalene of the Dalene Foundation said that seeing the joy on the children’s faces brought tears to her eyes. ‘This is truly history in the making… a day that will not be forgotten by the people of Wellington and surrounding areas. These children will never, ever forget this outing. They never get the opportunity to see life outside of their surrounding area. This excursion is indeed a dream come true for these children and gave them the opportunity to see life in the city and get them excited about striving to take up some of the opportunities in the city. We would like to thank the EduBiz Foundation team for working with the Q-Rock and Dalene Foundations to bring the excursion to the Wellington and surrounding areas. Words cannot express our appreciation to the SA Jewish Musem team for their sponsorship, kindness and for including our children and adults this great initiative”.
The excursion is offered as a collaboration between the SA Jewish Musuem and the EduBiz Foundation, who worked with the Q Rock and Dalene Foundations. Quinten Swartz of the Q Rock Foundation said he hopes and prays that it is the first of many excursions through this collaboration that will give the youth from outside of Cape Town the opportunity to experience the excursion to the SA Jewish Museum, Company Gardens and the beautiful Mother city!
