The management and learners of Golden Steps School are breathing a sigh of relief after the Salaam Foundation made a sizeable donation to the special needs educational facility recently.
The school was among the several in the province that were broken into and vandalised during the July 2021 civil unrest. School buses on the premises were destroyed by the rioters. Azhar Vadi from the Salaam Foundation said they learnt about the damaged busses through a media article and visited the school.
“A needs assessment was done and we discovered that the bus that transported the learners to school was severely damaged and needed repairs. We donated a sum of R160 000 that was used for the refurbishment of the school bus,” said Vadi.
He said Golden Steps School serves the impoverished community with a very specific focus on children with intellectual challenges. “These are some of the most vulnerable people in society yet their school was targeted. During the riots in July last year, unknown thugs broke into the school premises and damaged and destroyed valuable resources,” said Vadi.
The Salaam Foundation, a registered non-profit company based in Johannesburg, provides emergency relief both locally an internationally in times of crisis. In South Africa their focus is mainly on developmental, educational and agricultural projects.
Vadi said due to the severity of the destruction the busses needed a lot of attention. “This bus picks up the learners everyday from distant areas and brings them safely to their place of learning. Without the bus service the children will not be able to get to the place where they are taught, stimulated and developed. This is why we believed it would be a valuable contribution to make in this regard. I feel a sense of appreciation that we were allowed to be part of this project. By helping others we are in fact helping ourselves to grow as human beings, so we are thankful that Golden Steps School opened its doors to us,” said Vadi
Shireen Hariparsad, the deputy principal at the school said, the week of the unrest was full of “doom and gloom for Golden Steps” as the school was extensively vandalised. She said: “The administration block, which takes care of all our learners, staff administration and welfare was vandalised. The kitchen where our learners prepare daily meals was also damaged, all appliances, food items and dishes were stolen. They also took televisions and computers that were sponsored to the school.”
Hariparsad said the school admits learners with multiple disabilities and has an enrolment of 217. “Apart from the disabilities that our learners endure, they also come from very impoverished backgrounds, thus the school provides a hot meal and transport daily. Although Golden Steps is a public school and receives a subsidy from the Department of Education, it is not enough to sustain the school’s day to day running, hence the school is largely reliant on sponsorships and donations from NGOs and the public. We therefore welcome the kind gesture by the Salaam Foundation and Azhar Vadi. We are truly grateful for their donation.”
