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Sumbandila Scholarship Trust
May Newsletter
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Dear Friends
May has been a rollercoaster month for Sumbandila and our students. The start of the month brought devastating news that a large number of Limpopo schools had been burnt down in political unrest.
We spoke to some of our Sumbandila students who have expressed their dismay at losing their primary schools.
The middle of the month was a joyous occasion with a very special visitor all the way from Chiang Mai, Thailand.
And then an extremely busy end of month with mentoring and assisting school leaving students with their bursary and University applications.
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Sumbandila Story of the Month
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Senseless tragic burning of Limpopo schools
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At least 19 of the 25 schools burnt in the Vuwani district in the first week of May have been burned to the ground. The cost in monetary terms is in the region of 400 million Rand and approximately 60,000 pupils are directly affected. In a region where education was desperately in need of improvement this is a tragic setback.
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Although nobody is certain, the burning is allegedly in protest against the court ruling to uphold the municipal demarcation board’s decision whereby about 50 villages around Vuwani would be moved from the Thulamela district municipality to the Malamulele district municipality.
The underlying cause of the anger about this move is thought to be inherent hostility between the two tribes that dominate these regions and municipalities, the Venda and the Tsonga respectively.
Whatever the reason nothing justifies the negative impact on the rights of children to basic education.
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Many of the parents tried to protect the schools and keep vigil to prevent further burning but most of the damage was done within two days.
Sumbandila condemns this senseless act which will significantly set back the education of thousands of children. In particular our sympathies go two primary schools with which we have a close association. Tshirunza in Vuwani and Lupedzi Primary in Mashau.
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Limpopo schools burnt down
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Vhonani Makhado who attended Tshirunzanani primary school was selected onto Sumbandila in 2008 and graduated last year from the Tswane University of Technology in Pretoria with a degree in hotel and tourism, and is now working in Dubai.
Lupedze Primary, was also responsible for the primary education of two Sumbandila scholars, Rosy Mudzanani and Phumudzo Sadiki. Rosie is in her fourth year doing her honours in finance at the University of Cape Town and Phumudzo is in her third year social science at the University of Wits in Johannesburg.
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"I am saddened by the unfortunate burning of the schools, especially my primary school Lupedze. My heart bleeds for all the learners affected by this tradegy, I can only imagine how I would feel if the school was burnt down during my time, I would possibly not be where I am today, a third year social work student at Wits, as this can de-motivate you and make you want to give up. But my message to all the learners is to not give up on their dreams, but make the best use of resources that have been provided, like the mobile schools, and to not allow this even to determine their future"
- Phumudzo
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All three girls expressed their deep sadness and anger at the fate of the schools that played such an important role in their childhoods and in their current success.
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Special visitor from Chiang Mai, Thailand
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In March and April of 2015 courtesy of the Harbers Foundation, Josie Swantek and Dave Adams from Run Riot productions came to visit and shoot a documentary about Sumbandila. The documentary they produced was shown in France in May 2015, as part of the Cash & Rocket tour.
During their visit Dave and Josie got to know the main subjects of their documentary namely Rosy Mudzanani and Naho Mudawa. Whilst they were here they told us the story of Ai. A young Tai girl also the subject of one of their documentaries which had filmed over a number of years in Thailand.
It had always been a dream of Ai’s to visit Africa. And so a year later, Dave and Josie generously funded Ai to come to South Africa and stay with Sumbandila in May this year.
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During her time here she was able to visit Ridgeway College, the Sumbandila hostel, Naho and his family in Padzima village, the Pretoria University students at the Sumbandila house, Rosy in Cape Town and of course the magnificent Kruger National Park.
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Ai visits Sumbandila from Chiang Mai, Thailand
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It was wonderful to see children from entirely different nationalities but very similar backgrounds meet and connect in terms of their struggles and dreams. It helps them to realise that all over the world there are children who do not have enough to eat, are not guaranteed a proper education and whose families struggle to lift themselves out of a crippling cycle of poverty.
We hope that one day one of our Sumbandila students will visit Ai in Thailand. She will be starting University in August and will be studying a business degree.
Thank you Run Riot for your generosity and for bringing Ai into our lives.
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New Sumbandila Volunteers
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We are fortunate to welcome two new volunteers to our Sumbandila Team. Sarah who is visiting from England and Pamela from Zimbabwe. Both are helping us with our Matric students in mentoring and researching career paths for them. They are also assisting the students to apply to University and to apply for bursaries which can be a logistical headache!
Their help has been invaluable and the staff and students really appreciate their assistance.
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Sumbandila Student Updates
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Sumbandila residential student Thiofhi Lambani is currently studying a Higher Certificate degree in Business Management at CTI, Pretoria. Not only does she continue to work hard in her studies, but she finds the time to manage all of the Sumbandila social media and has now even published her very first copy of the CTI campus newsletter "Blue Buzz", of which she is the editor. Thiofhi, you continue to amaze us every day with your hard work, enthusiasm and dedication - keep up the great work!
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Grade 5 student, Oritonda, was awarded a certificate of recognition for 'Great Improvement' in Mathematics on May 17th - well done Oritonda!
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“The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future in life.” (Plato)
What kind of a start or life direction are we giving our children when they see their school’s being burnt by the adults who are meant to be their role models. The same role models that were part of the struggle for freedom and/or the beneficiaries of the freedom that so many paid such a high price for.
Sumbandila cannot express deeply enough the extreme anger and sadness we feel over this tragedy. Our funders give hard earned money to the cause of education, our staff and students work tirelessly for the cause of education, and this senseless act has set our province back significantly.
I am comforted only by the fact that I have absolute confidence in our own graduates to become leaders in their respective fields and work tirelessly to change this destructive mind-set that is damaging our country.
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