Durban – Gift of the Givers in partnership with oil and gas company Shell officially unveiled the refurbished Nondenisa High School in the Ozwathini area of Ndwedwe north of Durban on Thursday.
The school has approximately 1 250 pupils. It was one of many that were damaged by the floods in April last year. Deputy Principal Hloniphani Sibiya expressed his gratitude to Shell and the Gift of the Givers. Sibiya said the school wrote to the KZN Department of Basic Education, Shell and Gift of the Givers and both the company and the humanitarian aid organisation responded swiftly to repair it.
"After the floods teaching and learning was halted because many parts of the school were damaged. What these two companies have done for us cannot be described by words, we are grateful for this and we promise them that we will take care of the school," said Sibiya.
Shell's Ntobeko Makgadime said the situation was bad after the school was damaged. Makgadime added that Shell had worked very well with the Gift of the Givers team.
"This is your school and we are glad to help and that you now have a proper shelter when it is cold like it is today. It makes us happy to see you learning in a safe and conducive environment like this one," said Mokgadime.
Gift of the Givers founder and chairperson, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, said the organisation had been involved in many initiatives that uplifted schools since the floods last year.
"The government alone cannot fix everything alone, it requires all of us in the country to work together for schools to succeed. Since the floods we have fixed many schools, not only in KZN but in the entire country. We have worked very well with Shell on this project," he said.