Local Group Donates To South African School
A local couple and their friend donated gifts, including footballs, tennis balls and t-shirts, to a school in South Africa on their recent visit to the country.
Chrissy Wetherhill, her husband Chris and friend Dai James headed to the North West Province on safari last month, travelling with 15 footballs, 50 tennis balls, 15 t-shirts, as well as pens and crayons to give to a nearby school.
As the founder of Bosom Buddies, a local group of women who have raised more than $1.5 million for cancer care on the island since forming 17 years ago, Ms Wetherhill wanted the group’s trip to include a good cause.
Ms Wetherhill, who received a Queen’s Certificate and Badge of Honour for her work with PALS and other causes, donated gifts to a South African school when she visited the country about 20 years ago.
“We knew some schoolkids don’t have much, so we decided to take a case full of pens, pencils and crayons,” she told Bernews. “It brought tears to our eyes; they were so grateful.”
On their recent visit, the group donated gifts to Itekeng Basha Pre-School and Primary School in the Moses Kotane West, the Bojanala region, where their safari guide’s daughter attended.
“When we arrived at the school and donated the gifts, the tears just streamed down our faces,” said Ms Wetherhill, a Bermudian who lives in Southampton. “They were just so in awe of these footballs that Dai took. You don’t know how lucky you are until you see people who are less fortunate.”
Mr James, a former policeman who moved to Bermuda from Wales in 1970, said he decided to donate on behalf of the Hamilton Lions Club, of which he is a former president.
“Chrissy spoke to me about her idea to give different things to a local school, something she had done previously, and I thought I’d donate my things as a community service project from Hamilton Lions Club,” said Mr James, who has been involved the Lions for about 12 years.
Mr James admits he was taken aback by the joyous reaction of the children when they received their gifts.
“When I first gave the children a football, I wanted to take their photo, but it was hard to get them to look at the camera because they couldn’t take their eyes off the football. It meant the world to them!” he said.
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