More than a thousand learners from Silethukukhanya Secondary School, in the Umkhanyakude District near St Lucia in northern KwaZulu-Natal, sang their school song in celebration of the official opening of the rural school’s new soccer pitch and lights, on Friday 8 May.

The Woolworths Trust (a beneficiary of the MySchool programme) provided the funds for the 18-month project that included the construction of the pitch and lights, which will allow it to be used throughout the year in the evenings and late afternoons during the winter months. 

More significantly the building of the pitch included the construction of a bore hole, pumps and water tanks, which in addition to supplying water for the pitch’s grass, are also providing fresh, clean water to the school. For the first time, learners can use the taps in their domestic science and science labs and they no longer have to carry buckets of water to flush the toilets.

Passionate about the project and the difference it is making both on the field and off, Pieter Twine (General Manager of MySchool and trustee of the Woolworths Trust), commented that it is very rewarding to witness first-hand the joy a running tap, never mind a whole soccer pitch, can bring to a community.

Silethukukhanya’s principal, Bheki Nomandla, says that the soccer pitch is going to be an enormous benefit to his learners.

“It is so important for learners to have a space where they can focus on physical activity and team sports. The physical activity helps them to concentrate better in class and the sport creates a team spirit. The community also gets involved, which strengthens the relationship between the community and the school.”

The project was inspired by Singaporean architect Swee Hong Ng’s winning entry in the 2005 INDEX Design for Life Award. This competition, organised by Architecture for Humanity, a U.S.-based non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting architectural solutions to humanitarian crises, challenged entrants to develop a sustainable design for a youth sports facility and HIV/AIDS outreach centre.

“We first heard about this project at Design Indaba in 2007 from Cameron Sinclair of Architecture for Humanity,” explains Twine. “We felt it was an ideal opportunity for the Trust – not only because of our focuses on education and orphaned and vulnerable children, but also our drive to help create sustainable schools in disadvantaged areas. The project is also aligned with Woolworths’ Good business journey commitment to social development in South Africa.”

In addition to the Woolworths Trust and Architecture for Humanity, other partners in the project are Mpilonhle, an NGO that uses mobile units to bring health and specialised education services to rural schools and communities, and which managed and coordinated implementation of the project, East Coast Architects, which assisted with design, and Charlize Theron’s Africa Outreach Project, which provided additional funding for the project.

Umkhanyakude Mayor Laurence Mthombeni, who is also Chairman of the Mpilonhle Board, spoke at the opening, saying that “This is an example of a project in which public and private groups come together to provide a lasting legacy for the community.  It will crucially help address the issue of AIDS prevention by integrating Mpilonhle’s health activities with the sports activities that the field provides.”

According to Twine, Silethukukhanya School is situated in the Dukuduku Forest, one of the country’s most severely economically depressed areas. HIV and AIDS are rife, and there are virtually no sports facilities for the area’s young people.

“The more we learnt about the school and its remarkable principal, the more determined we were to do what we could to help them,” says Twine. “Not only will the soccer pitch give learners and members of the community the opportunity to participate in healthy activities like sport, with Mpilonhle as a partner it will also provide a base for much-needed health-related activities such as counselling and testing for HIV, group health education, and computer education for learners and members of the community via their mobile health units.”

“The kids themselves are our greatest motivation,” concludes Twine. “They really want to change their circumstances and create a better future for themselves. We are delighted to have been able to help facilitate this development and with 2010 fast approaching, the kids now have their own pitch to emulate the visiting nations’ chip shots.”