I'M BACH - FIELD OF DREAMS UPDATE
I’m Bach. It’s been ages since I last blogged but I don’t think anyone missed me that much. It’s better to do than to write about doing I suppose. I spend most of my free time the last couple of months on the Field of Dreams Library and Albert Street School.
Magic happened since July when I last wrote about what started as a Mandela Day commitment for me.
The library is done. The refurbishment completed by Amecon and shelving installed by Tswane Hardware. Without André from Amecon and Shaun from Tswane Hardware this would have remained a dream as they carried the lion’s share of the work and cost to establish the library. The books donated by various publishers and those the school already had collected and kept in a leaky storeroom had been sorted and shelved. Jonathan the librarian is busy with the cataloguing.
BEFORE AND AFTER
Albert Street now has one of the best libraries compared to those of other inner city schools. Great stuff - these kids deserve something special.
When I originally became involved with Albert Street in August 2010 the dream was to establish a library, but as I walked the road with the educators’ and the children I realized that this was only the tip of an iceberg.
Reality is a struggling school of some 350 learners with committed teachers working miracles against impossible odds with almost no teaching resources. Their salaries are usually months in arrears due to lack of funding - yet they keep on teaching. There are 140 orphaned children who lives a hand-to-mouth existence not knowing where they’re next meal will be coming from. “The situation is dire” Bishop Paul Verryn said a while ago when I asked him what gives.
The food situation has since improved, but is still not completely sorted as it is difficult to source adequate and steady food supply on a long term basis. With the assistance of Gastaldi Distributors, who donates fruit and vegetables once a week and the Union of Jewish women’s that donates rice, tea and peanut butter the situation has improved. Oresti Patricios, CEO of the Ornico Group, and part-time driver and handyman at Odd Café, send me and unsolicited e-mail offering to donate funding for 300 kg’s of maize meal per month which is the staple diet of these orphaned children. Did I mention that magic happens?
Albert Street School does not have sufficient classrooms. Some learners attend classes in the afternoon as there are not enough classrooms to accommodate all the children in the morning. Obviously this places additional strain on the educators.
Millslitho & First Rand Volunteers donated further funding and this is being utilized to build two additional classrooms. I’ve been doing this on a sub-contract basis and as everyone who’s played around with owner-building knows it can become a time consuming and frustrating affair. No wonder I couldn’t blog! The classrooms are nearly completed.
Medal Paints is donating some paint which will be used for the new classrooms and whatever is left over will brighten up the main building that hasn’t been painted in fifty years.
Rasty & Curio of Pressure Control Projects has nearly completed a beautiful mural. This adds colour and vibrancy to what used to be a bland, blank wall. I remember a protracted confrontational issue I had in 2010 with The Village People about the merit of street art within an educational environment. Suffice to say that life has moved on since then with street art gaining more and more credibility with more and more people recognizing its positive role in society.
It is amazing what had been achieved with the help of a few good people who was prepared to make a simple idea a reality. The job is not done. There is still a lot to do at Albert Street and other inner city schools.
Quality education is the key to the healthy growth and future of the inner city and I’m sure that Albert Street will serve as a model of what can be achieved with commitment and dreaming dreams into reality.
The library will be officially opened on 3 December 2011.
The clips below illustrate the plight of refugee children and their journey to Jozi and also an interview with William Kandowe, Albert Street’s principal filmed in the library.
Click to view