Member of the mayoral committee for environment, Prema Naidoo, and ward councillor Japhta Lekgethlo unveil the My Dream Park sign at Makhoarane School

Living a dream: opening the Makhoarane School's new garden

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Miss Earth 2006 Nancy Dosreis and first runner Miss Earth 2007 Palesa Makwe at the unvelling of Makhoarane School's My Dream Park

Trying out the equipment

The new park at Makhoarane School was officially opened on 13 September

A dream garden turns into reality For a Dobsonville, Soweto, school a dream of a beautiful garden has become a reality. September 14, 2007 By Tabisa Mntengwana MAKHOARANE School, the winners of last year's City Parks' My Dream Park competition, has seen its dry and dusty playgrounds turned into green oasis, with newly planted trees, a water feature and new swings and slides. The new garden was officially opened at a ceremony at the school on 13 September. At the same event, this year's winners of the My Dream Park competition were announced; Mayibuye Primary School in Midrand, the winners of the annual poster competition, will receive R250 000 to make their dream garden come true. Every year City Parks and the Gauteng department of education hold a citywide competition where school children design their dream school park. The aim is to educate youngsters about how urban greening can improve the quality of life. New benches, a water feature and trees in the dream garden of Makhoarane School Learners submit drawings to the Gauteng department of education and entries are then short-listed. "Learners are encouraged to participate in groups and submit one entry per school," according to the education department. "The competition is a vehicle for the City to talk to learners about the importance of taking care of our environment and gives us an opportunity to develop safe play-areas where children can be monitored," says the member of the mayoral committee member responsible for the environment, Prema Naidoo. Living a dream: opening the Makhoarane School's new garden The competition is sponsored by Total South Africa, which allocated prize money of R500 000 to the top three schools for the development of parks in their schools. Thursday's event started with dignitaries and school children watching a DVD of the My Dream Park competition. The DVD outlined the history of the competition, showing how it began in 2004 with the aim of educating, inspiring and instilling learners with the importance and value of nurturing public open spaces. "The aim of this project is to encourage learners to explore their artistic skills by developing a dream park for their schools," said Total South Africa brand manager Nolundi Rawana. It also aims "to make pupils and their community aware of the ecological, educational and recreational benefits of creating and maintaining their parks in their local environment", Rawana added. More than 10 schools from around the city attended the event, including representatives from Makhoarane Primary School, Skeen Primary School and Ikageng Primary School. The top three schools in this year's competition are: first-placed Mayibuye Primary School from Midrand, which received R250 000 for their dream garden; runner up, Dobsonville's Thathezakho Primary School, who were given R150 000; and Winnie Ngwekazi Primary School from Pimville, in third place, with prize money of R100 000 The money will be used to erect water features, dustbins and play equipment, as well as for plants and paving. Sonto Tshabalala, a teacher from Thathezakho Primary School, could not hide her excitement when her school was announced runner up. "I'm extremely happy. We have been working on this project with my pupils for months and I know they are also excited about winning." Additional prizes included a picnic bag and stationery for all the winning learners. After the announcements, the new garden at Makhoarane Primary School was opened. "This has been our dream and it has come true," said Tumelo Mabitsela, the school's principal. Member of the mayoral committee for environment, Prema Naidoo, and ward councillor Japhta Lekgethlo unveil the My Dream Park sign at Makhoarane School The new trees, water feature, benches and other features were duly inspected. "Learners have a responsibility to take care of their playgrounds," Naidoo said. Permission to use web site material Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as: Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za)"; If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original article on this website; The name of the article's author is acknowledged; The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill in this brief online form). Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 Print this Page E-mail this article to a friend Help using Joburg.org.za