Community schools say "thank you" to operators for monthly food drop

Manyeleti operator representatives from (L-R) Pungwe, Tintswalo Safari Lodge and Honeyguide Tented Safari Camps at the ceremony at Manyangana High School

The COVID-19 lockdown has had a devastating impact on the community schools that surround the Manyeleti, not the least in terms of leaving many learners hungry as the meals schools provide for learners are often the only food they eat during the day. 

Thankfully, Pungwe and other Manyeleti operators Tintswalo Safari Lodge and Honeyguide Tented Safari Camps came to the rescue when lockdown hit hard and joined together to create a way to raise money that would allow them to buy bags of mealie meal (ground maize) to donate to local schools.

Former Pungwe manager  Michel Girardin came up with the idea of running a raffle offering a fantastic six-night safari package to the winner made up of two nights each at Tintswalo, Honeyguide and Pungwe, selling tickets for R600 to start the ball rolling. Participants could buy as many tickets as they wanted. 

The raffle was launched and worked a treat, raising almost R50,000, with additional funding coming in as former guests across the world came on board wanting to help. Working with Thomas Khosa - the regional representative from the department of education - and Professor EK Siwela Mathebula, headmaster of Manyangana High School in nearby Hluvukani - the operators established a drop-off point at Manyangana High School where they would deliver the bags of mealie meal for distribution to 26 schools in the area. 

More than 100 bags of meal have been bought since the programme began with drops being made once or twice a month at Manyangana High School. The last drop was made on 14 September when representatives of the operators were thanked during a ceremony hosted by Prof Mathebula, Mr Khosa and the principals and deputy principals of all the schools that have benefitted from the programme. 

"Never underestimate what you have done here with your gesture," said Prof Mathebula to the operator representatives - Pungwe manager Tim Cowell, Tintswalo Safari Lodge general manager Alistair Leuner and Honeyguide Tented Safari Camps general manager Kevin Pearson. 

"Hunger is a very real barrier to learning and thanks to the generosity of your lodges and camps and the funding you have managed to raise, you have managed to make an incredible difference to the lives of countless learners on our school circuit," Prof Mathebula added. "It is heartwarming to see the Manyeleti's lodges and camps reaching out to the communities and working with them to build a better future for all of us." 

Mr Khosa added that the learners who have benefitted from the mealie meal drop will be personally emailing the operators to thank them for their efforts and to tell them what a huge difference they have made in their lives. We hope to be sharing some of those emails on our social media platforms very soon!

We are also working with our friends at Tintswalo Safari Lodge and Honeyguide Tented Safari Camps, Mr Khosa and Prof Mathebula to continue the feeding programme into the foreseeable future, so if you would like to donate and help us make a difference in the lives of our schoolchildren, please get in touch!