The Student Representative Council (SRC) has launched the second phase of their Eastern Cape Community Engagement (ECCOE) project this week with the “Walk in My Shoes” initiative. Students are being encouraged by the SRC to donate school shoes and money for disadvantaged students in what will be a long-term and possibly provincial project.
SRC Community Engagement representative Thabo Seshoka elaborates: “The goal of ECCOE is to promote education. How can you get to school to get an education without school shoes and in this terrible weather?”
The name of the project is significant too. “‘Walk in My Shoes’ can mean a lot of things,” says Seshoka. “Students have to remember that they are privileged and must walk in the shoes of the underprivileged,” he adds.
Seshoka hopes this project will carry on from the successful Career Day hosted in the township earlier this year. Both projects have tried to encourage learners to study further. When Seshoka has collected his goal in donations and funds he will contact the schools to arrange a handover.
The schools highlighted by the Rhodes University Community Engagement Office (RUCE) as in need of assistance, and which the SRC aims to work with, are: Archie Mbolekwa, CM Vellem, Ntaba Maria, Ntsika Secondary and Khutliso Daniels Senior Secondary.
The project is being looked at by the SRC as a long-term initiative which would hopefully be expanded in years to come. So far, every year, a different project has been taken on by the CE representative and Seshoka is hoping to change this. The ECCOE project aims to “make a difference in the lives of every potential student in Grahamstown and the Makana region,” according to the project proposal.
The project is still in its beginning stages and so far students are interested in supporting it. “I think it's a great idea and a worthy cause and I'll definitely try to help out if I can,” says Danica Kreusch, a Journalism student. She does feel they could be doing more, though, in terms of advertising: “The more they put it out there, the more people will be forced to listen, in a way, and that will probably mean they get more help.”
Kaitlin Cunningham, a BA student, donates shoes whenever she has spare pairs lying around already. “It’s the sort of thing that I would contribute to if I could, but something that I almost end up doing anyway - regardless of whether there’s a specific initiative or not. But I think it is a very good thing to put the idea into people’s heads to encourage them to do this where they may ordinarily have thrown them away,” she adds.
The SRC hopes to raise a minimum of R50 000. The project will run until the week of intervarsity. Those willing to help can drop off donations at the SRC offices in the Union or e-mail Seshoka at srccommunity@ru.ac.za to arrange an electronic transfer.
Source: The Oppidan Press
Photo source: The Oppidan Press
By Jordan du Toit