Ally’s story - Mandela Day 2013

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It was a warm winter's morning in Atteridgeville, Pretoria. We embarked on our first site visit, Flavius Mareka High School, This initiative formed part of our inaugural community takeover project aimed at earmarking sites in the area with an immediate need. The various projects range from refurbishing classrooms, to uplifting the youth. While seeking to inspire others, we ended up inspired by the story of a remarkable young man named Ally.

Ally�™s story began in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2010, where he was faced with the difficult decision of having to flee his country as his only alternative was a life of hardship in a rebel camp, fighting for a cause that he didn�™t believe in. With the clothes on his back & the little he had, he made the arduous journey to South Africa. Alone and unaided he had to do a great deal of growing up. Upon his arrival in South Africa he applied for refugee status and was subsequently placed in a children�™s shelter in Atteridgeville where he was later enrolled at Flavius Mareka High School. The high school is a quintile 1 (Q1) school which means that not all students are obliged to pay school fees. The maintenance and upkeep of the school is taken care of by the government through annual tax contributions.

Being a proactive young man, Ally took it upon himself to revive the school�™s garden feeding scheme which had since declined to a poor state since its inception. What separates Ally from the rest is that he has vision, not only for his adoptive community in South Africa but his community in the DRC. With no formal training whatsoever, Ally taught himself and anyone who would be willing to help how to make organic compost from leaves & biodegradable items. The reason he chose to go the organic route in the gardening project was because he strongly believed in keeping the process as natural as possible while trying to achieve a symbiosis.

Inspiring stories of individuals such as Ally and countless other community members make this job more meaningful. We come into communities with the intention of helping out and we take so much away from the experience.

To meet and help Ally, as well as other exceptional community members in Atteridgeville, log on to mandela.cheeseday.co.za and register for our community takeover project, taking place on the 20th of July. We look forward to seeing you.

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