WESSA Schools Programme Annual Report 2019/2020

I have learned about the importance of growing and eating organic food, as well as learned many other skills which have helped me professionally. “ ”

ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES

to improve their farming skills. Our school also won a certificate in our District for being a healthy school. There have been big changes. We teach our learners to pick up litter in the morning before school and after breaks. The 20 members of our EnviroClub help to monitor other learners during breaks. Our recycling programme includes collecting bread tags and paper, which we sell to raise funds to buy other equipment such as gardening tools and more recycling bins. I have learned about the importance of growing and eating organic food, as well as learned many other skills which have helpedme professionally. In the classroom, I can integrate these skills when teaching

We see a great deal of littering, especially after weekends. Our school accommodates some church groups but, unfortunately, sometimes the churchgoers (who are community members) leave a lot of litter behind. After discussing these issues with the churches, we have provided big labelled bins for recycling. The recycling project has changed the learners’ and churchgoers’ perspectives on waste. People have learned that nothing should be regarded as waste. Throughout my eco-journey I have realised that caring for the environment has a way of changing how people see themselves and that they can connect with nature in many ways. The school’s JoJo tanks have helped to catch and conserve water during droughts, but water wastage is a big concern since, for example, sometimes our learners forget to close taps after use. We have an irrigation system (kindly donated by AFGRI) to water our garden, but we also recycle water by using grey- water to irrigate our trees. There is a community helper in the garden, but presently we have only one volunteer because of lack of funds. GREAT BENEFITS Being part of the Eco-Schools programme has helped me – and our school – greatly. Along with five learners, two School Governing Body (SGB) members and one community member, I received training in subsistence farming which has helped me assist some parents

M a t h e m a t i c s or Life Skills, for example, to my Grade R class.

The children learn to count how many days the food plants have been growing and to take care of the garden vegetables that contribute to our feeding scheme.

MY WISHES FOR THE FUTURE

I hope some of the learners will become good farmers, and that all learners will discover more about environmental issues such as air pollution, which is extremely bad in this part of Mpumalanga and affects us all.

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