Community-based NPO CareReach Connect launched the “Tshwane My Pitori campaign” at the Denlyn shopping mall in Mamelodi on Friday.
“The campaign is aimed at bringing about the spirit of patriotism among the people of Tshwane and what we will do is to embark on a tour of schools in Tshwane and roll out various programmes for learners,” said Marketing Director of CareReach Connect Themba Monyoko Chauke.
“Our programmes entail hygiene initiatives like handing out sanitary towels, stationery and school uniforms to kids who come from unprivileged backgrounds,” he said.
Chauke explained that there are various stakeholders who are supporting the “Tshwane My Pitori Campaign” and that they include the City of Tshwane Municipality, Moses Mabhida Foundation, Denlyn Safari Investments, Shout It Now, Legal Aid South Africa, Built Africa, GAP Connect, ICCare, Vhathu Phanda, Impactful, Her Choice as well as the Gauteng Provincial Government.
Other activities that were part and parcel of the launch included Health Screening and Awareness, Educational Support Services, Wellness and Children’s Entertainment Section.
Regarding the organisation’s decision to distribute sanitary towels to learners at schools, Chauke said the following:
“We are speaking to policy-makers in the government as a way of trying to get the ear of the government regarding our stance that sanitary towels must be handed out to each child all the time as a basic resource and not as a favour,” he enthused.
“Tshwane My Pitori Campaign is definitely going to be an ongoing phenomenon; we are doing something that is going to be sustainable as opposed to situations whereby some organisations embark on a trend to distribute sanitary towels for the sake of inviting the media and having their pictures taken,” he said.
He said their campaign is focused only on Region 6 and 7 of Tshwane (Mamelodi, Eersterust, Nellmapius) but will soon be rolled out to all the seven regions of Tshwane.
Indigenous games like Diketo, Chelechele and Morabaraba and Chauke opined that the said games must be taught to each and every child in the country.
He revealed that the “Tshwane My Pitori Campaign” has been in the pipeline for some considerable time now and that he was very glad that it had finally come to fruition.
Now to put the proverbial cherry on the cake, old women actually played the aforesaid games and sang their lungs out at the launch to show the younger generations as to how it felt like being young back in the day.