After 115 years of use, the rural Mzinto Primary School in Mount Frere, Eastern Cape, has finally abandoned pit latrines.
Before Wesolve4x creator Tsietsi Ngobese was able to successfully gather enough money to replace two pit latrines with 19 modern-flushing toilets, there were several incidences when students almost lost their lives in the deep-holed toilets.
This was accomplished via the R179 000 project #HelpBuildToilets4MzintoPrimarySchool.
On August 5, 2021, we visited Mzinto Primary School in Mount Frere, Eastern Cape, to give our free math enrichment lessons to students in grades 4 through 7, according to Ngobese.
“We want to provide the families with supermarket hampers from our grocery stokvel, and this was for learners and parents so they could aid their kids with schoolwork.
“On my first visit to the school, I then saw a grade R student fall into the pit toilet and was able to rescue the youngster. I was moved to instantly urge South Africans to provide a helping hand by making contributions in order to stop the occurrence from occurring again.
With the assistance of Assupol, building on the new restrooms began in August 2022, and by December they were ready for the start of the new academic year.
He said that his team was astonished to discover that the Mzinto Primary School alumnus was unwilling to assist since he claimed it was a government job.
As the mud classroom is outdated and unstable, we have already accomplished one assignment and are now soliciting money to assist with the construction of a suitable classroom for students in grade R. These defenseless youngsters might be killed at any moment if it collapses.
The foundation phase classrooms have potholes, and the school is still a danger to students until it can be helped. I invite the public to visit the school and see how they can help.
“We don’t want to make them wait another 115 years to get help. We therefore request that the Department of Basic Education and the broader public pay attention to the screams of the students at Mzinto Primary School.
For the last seven years that he has held the position of headmaster, Zweloxolo Makaula, the school’s principal, said he has lived in constant worry of losing a student to the dim restrooms.
Makaula said, “I am ecstatic that even the smallest students may now go to the restroom in their own privacy without needing instructors to hold them while they waste themselves.
We feel at ease because of this since we are growing. Even though Ngobese and his crew weren’t originally present for the project, I’m delighted they found us.
“The school has to be completely secure, particularly grade R. Their classroom has to be torn down and a safer one put in its place. I now think that it takes a community to raise a kid thanks to the assistance with the restrooms, and we will have a new classroom. I appreciate the generosity.
»Good Samaritans install bathrooms for 115-year-old Mzinto elementary«