On Mandela Day, the environmental awareness club did an Ecobrick service initiative in Diepsloot with Khensani’s Collection. This was a worthwhile experience and a great way to get involved in the community in the true spirit of the 67 minutes campaign. We were encouraged to take 67 minutes out of the day for every one minute of every year that Mandela fought for human rights and social justice. We took packed lunches for the children, as well as the Ecobricks we have collected over the term to donate, as they use them to build classrooms for the children. This is incredible because the main focus of the Ecobrick project is to help alleviate the pollution caused by plastic litter which contributes to climate change. Khensani’s Collection is making a huge difference because it builds classrooms with Ecobricks as part of its contribution to raising awareness about plastic pollution and how plastic can be turned into a useful cost-effective building material. The extra classrooms create more learning spaces for students who are learning in crowded classrooms. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Khensani Collection centre has built two more green classrooms in the past year. They are solar powered and plan to find more innovative ways to expand their community in an environmentally friendly way. We were taught how to make Ecobricks using eco sand. These are strong enough to build the foundation of a house. They need to weigh a minimum of 3,5kgs. Ecobricks for the walls need to weigh at least 550g.

As always, working with Khensani’s Collection was a wonderful experience and we look forward to working with them in the future.

JANE MCMURRAY
TEACHER IN CHARGE