WESSA Glencore report 2022

Gekombineerde Skool Ogies

JOINING THE WESSA ECO-SCHOOLS PROGRAMME

POSITIVE IMPACT AND CHANGES The sustainable food garden is yielding good results and supporting vulnerable learners with food Learners and teachers have gained practical skills through the creation of the food garden, and this has also assisted with reducing costs for the nutrition programme. Teachers are now promoting health and well-being and organic methods of growing food.

Ogies

FOOD SECURITY AND MANAGING WASTE SUSTAINABLY The journey was a new and fascinating experience for Gekombineerde Skool. A food tunnel was erected at the school to protect their crops during the harsh seasons This helped them understand why farmers use growing tunnels in the garden as it yields good results Gekombineerde Skool Ogies is a public combined school located in Mpumalanga Province within the Nkangala District Municipality in Ogies. The school has been part of the WESSA Eco-Schools in partnership with Glencore since 2018.The school is located in an urban mining area with a lot of environmental challenges and pollution which was identified as one of the environmental problems impacting the community at large. With the assistance of Glencore offsetting and WESSA with their environmental education, the school planned to mitigate the impact on the environment. Having learnt about waste management strategies and the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) has taught learners artistic ventures keeping the school and surrounding communities clean. The school hygiene unit for handwashing has been of great help in teaching learners about hand hygiene and containing the spread of Covid-19. Learning about the importance of biodiversity has helped the school community to value and protect their surroundings and plant more trees around the school.

Working in the food tunnel

Water shortage remains a challenge as the borehole also runs out of water. The municipality does not supply water to the school. Gekombineerde Skool Ogies will work towards fundraising to securing a water tank for rain harvesting.

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