COAAMUNITYSERVICE Kearsney's Community Service Program has been a major success this year. The statistics tell us that as ofthe 3rd ofDecember 2001,83% of the boys have done some form of service, over 9700 hours ofservice has been done(i.e., over 404 days)and the number ofhours per boy for the entire school is 19,5 hours. What an incredible feat indeed! At the beginning of the year when 1 addressed the Parents Society and Class Liaison Parents set the school goals for Community Service before them in hours but1 stressed that Ifirmly believed that the emphasis ofservice was not the number ofhours a boy spent but the difference he could make to others. I am very pleased to report that over most ofthe service done has really impacted the lives of the people concerned. The service has been meaningful in all spheres. Service in Conservancies, Game Reserves and alien plant removal projects, were once again done from as far afield as Cape Town and Swaziland. The local and other SPCA had many ofthe boys spending valuable time helping at their premises, fetes, and their Horse Care Units. Old Age homes have seen many boys helping with maintenance,painting and entertaining the aged, we have also have had many visit to orphanages through South Africa. We have built up a special relationship with Heather Reynolds,from God's Golden Acre in Cato Ridge and many boys have spent their days working and playing with the orphans. One ofthe exciting developments that we have worked on this year is the tutoring of the underprivileged children from ourown Valley of 1000 Hills. We have had a total of120 boys and girls come into the school for tuition in basketball, cricket, soccer (I'm not sure who taught who!), basic computer literacy and chess. We have contacts at Valley Trust and the teachers from the approximately 500 schools in the valley are eager to bring the children to Kearsney. One stumbling block is taxi fares. The schools in the valley have heard of the programs we are running,and they are fighting to obtain places in these courses. In this connection I must thank BP South Africa and Mr. Maseko,for the kind assistance with the Chess Clinics run by Leonard Fienberg and Daniel Bense,and Enforce Security Group for their kind donation of cricket bats and wickets for the participants in this course. Any companies or individuals who could possibly help with the donation ofsporting equipment, basketballs, cricket bags,etc., or finance for taxi fares is kindly asked to contact Mr.Gavin Bester, from our Foundation Office, or myself. 2002 is upon us and we have a few exciting projects lined up for next year, one of which is running aICDL computer course for the teachers of the Valley, and many more programs for the underprivileged. I would really like to thank the following people for all their help this year. Mr. S. Zukulu,for his enormous contribution with the Wild Coast Holiday Schools, where many ofour boys have enjoyed helping the local population ofthe Wild Coast. Mrs. J. Ratcliffe whose wonderful organisation of the Golden Hours Sports days have brought tears and laughter to Kearsney boys and Golden Hours children alike. Mr. K. Smith for his dedicated service to the Kearsney Conservancy and the many hours ofsupervision of boys in preparation of the animals. The Kitchen Staff, under Ady and Peter, who have faithfully prepared eats for the children from the valley, to the Class Liaison Parents and parents, for their motivation and transporting ofthe boys Jm r-- on several projects throughout the year, but mostly I would like to thank the boys of the College for their outstanding work this year. Well done to all ofyou that have made a difference to others,always remember that giving ofyourself to others will not only bring dignity and respect to them,but you will benefit from the grace of giving. One more appeal from me: the year has brought many challenges for myselfand for the boys and I receive many requests from all types ofsources, many ofwhich I would love to become involved in, but time will not allow me to do so. If you, or a group of you,are able to possibly take on a project for me,for varying periods oftime and effort, please do not hesitate to contact me at any time. S VAN WYK COMMUNITYSERVICE OFFICER 29
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