October 2017 3rd Quarterly Report 2017 - Microsoft · October 2017 3rd Quarterly Report 2017 (July...

October 2017

3rd Quarterly Report 2017 (July – September)

During our third quarter we conducted projects with Adopt-a-school Foundation, finished up the

schools based Climate Proofing Project in Cosmo City and Thembisa, and held our annual arbour

month campaign. During this time we also had several high profile meetings and are feeling pos itive

that we will get more sponsors on board. It won’t be long before we are replicating the Green Schools

Model in other schools and communities.

Boitekong secondary school – Rustenburg

In early July our team went

through to Boitekong Secondary

School, on the outskirts of

Rustenburg, to provide some

much needed greenery and

future shade for the school. All in

all we managed to plant 10 fruit

trees and 10 shade trees. This

initiative was sponsored by Adopt

a school Foundation.

Boitekong secondary school – Rustenburg

The partnership we are forming with

Adopt-a-School Foundation works really

well as they enhance the teaching and

management of school whilst we

concentrate on the environmental issues.

Adopt-a-school Foundation is a non-profit

organisation that supports conducive

learning and teaching in disadvantaged

schools. It strives to address the inequalities

and inadequacies in our rural and

disadvantaged schools, in order to ensure

positive learning experiences.

Bathabile Primary school – Olivenhoutbosch, Centurion

Another project conducted

with Adopt-a-School

Foundation

Pictures Above: We added

compost and redesigned the

beds. We raised the beds for

better drainage and flow.

Pictures Left: added a nice

thick layer of mulch to

improve water retention and

prevent weed growth, and

lastly planted a variety of

vegetables that will go

towards the children’s daily

lunch.

Bathabile Primary school – Olivenhoutbosch, Centurion

Bonwelong Primary school – Thembisa

Picture Above: Getting the new biogas digester into place at Bonwelong Primary School

Pictures Above: Sergio finishing up with the new pipes, w e added an additional 5000L water tank to

increase the storage of the rainwater catchment system.

Bonwelong Primary school – Thembisa

Picture Top Left: The Biogas digester

being installed outside the schools’

kitchen.

Top Right: Tshepo isn’t afraid to get his

hands dirty, adding the cow manure to

the digester. Bacteria from a cows gut

produces methane gas under

anaerobic respiration.

Centre left: Installing a macerator in the

school’s kitchen which grinds the food

waste before pumping it into the biogas

digester.

Centre Right & Bottom: Alex

conducting educational biogas

workshops with the schools’ staff and

community members. They are taught

how biogas is generated as well as how

to operate and maintain the biogas

digester.

Bonwelong Primary school – Thembisa

Pictures: At bonwelong primary school in

Thembisa We worked with 20 community

members to erect a vegetable tunnel with a

dripline irrigation being fed from a rainwater

catchment. The picture in the top left shows the

grounds before work began.

Bonwelong Primary school – Thembisa

Pictures: The community members plant

vegetables in the tunnel we recently erected for

the City of Johannesburg School’s climate

proofing project. We worked with local

community members for skills development and

transfer. The vegetables will supplement the

schools feeding scheme.

Tsakani Primary school – Kagiso in Krugersdorp

We began working at

Tsakani primary in

February this year. It

has been a rewarding

experience for both

the school and us.

Picture top: Jabu the

school caretaker

poses with student

volunteers and the

new seedlings.

Picture bottom left:

After covering the

new beds in mulch a

dripline pipe was

installed.

Tsakani Primary school – Kagiso in Krugersdorp

Top Picture: By September these veggies have

grown so well. We are going back every month to

give the school caretakers a hands on workshop

on how to maintain the vegetable garden using

organic principals.

Picture Right: just look at how well the vegetables

are growing without using chemical fertilisers,

pesticides or herbicides.

The school has already started harvesting

spinach, cabbage, cauliflower and beetroot

from the garden.

A big thank-you to Adopt-a-School Foundation

for organising the sponsorship to make it possible.

Cosmo City Primary school 1 – Cosmo City

Top Picture: The community beneficiaries happy

to be finally planting the vegetable seedlings for

the new vegetable tunnel we built at Cosmo City

Primary school 1.

Picture Right: Alex showing explaining the benefits

of using mulch, notably: Weed control;

temperature regulation, reducing evaporation

from the soil and creating habitat for beneficial

soil organisms, i.e. earthworms.

The Climate proofing project in Cosmo Primary

One and Bonwelong Primary school has been an

ongoing project for the City of Johannesburg,

sponsored by the Department of Environmental

Affairs.

Cosmo City Primary school 1 – Cosmo City

The vegetable gardens

we create are managed

without the use of

pesticides or herbicides.

We follow organic and

permaculture principals

to limit potential harm to

the environment. The

dripline irrigation system

is very water efficient

and is fed from the rain

water catchment

system.

Meriti Secondary School – Rustenburg

September saw us drive out to

Rustenburg again. This time to Meriti

Secondary school. The Grade 12’s

took some time away from their

studies to come and plant a range

of vegetables in the schools’

vegetable garden as well as couple

of orange trees which will bear fruit

for the future generations. This was

all thanks to a sponsorship organised

by Adopt-A School Foundation.

Spruit day – Old Parks Randburg

During this year’s Spruit Day we were asked to support

the Old Parktonian Spots Club section of the

Braamfontein Spruit in Bordeaux.

The event saw the community joining in with a team

from Joburg City Parks to plant 60 large indigenous trees,

clean a mountain of rubbish from the river banks and

chop out alien invasive plants.

We also helped conduct a mini SASS water test, which

indicated that the river health was in extremely poor

condition, the worst results we have seen along this river

in three years of testing.

Arbour Month – Diepsloot

On the first of September we teamed up with Lasher

Tools to celebrate Arbour day by planting 20 trees at

Diepsloot Combined School. Grade 6 learners really

enjoyed the tree planting session.

Picture top left: Eco Culture received a generous

donation of tools from Lasher.

Picture bottom right: The eco culture team feeling proud

of the day’s work!

Arbour Month – Cosmo City Schools

Every year we celebrate arbour month by planting indigenous

trees at our beneficiary schools in Cosmo City. This year we

plated two Buffalo thorns, Ziziphus mucronata, at each of our

seven schools.

Picture top: Amelia and Alex address the children at the

schools’ assembly, teaching them why we need trees and

what elements trees need to survive.

Picture centre left: As clean-up week also falls within

September the Grade 4s were issued with refuse bags and

gloves, they then enthusiastically cleaned up their school!

Picture left: Amelia keeps a close eye on the learner planning

the tree, casually imparting knowledge in an informal setting.

Arbour Month – Cosmo City Schools

Our Arbour month

campaign runs for the

whole month of September

and we reach over 10 000

learners during this time!

The trees were graciously

donated by the Gauteng

Department of Agriculture

and Rural Development.

Arbour Month – Cosmo City Schools

A big thanks to our sponsors, supporters and stakeholders

(Not in any particular order)