Christel House SA Blog

Christel House SA would love it if the Cape Town blogging community got behind this most worthy cause and supported us at the first

“Tweet-Up-For-A-Cause”

The event is happening on Saturday,

the 31st of Jan

Time: 10am—12

Directions: From Lansdowne Wetton circle, right into old Stranfontein road & right again into Swallocliffe drive Ottery.

The plan of action: is to plant trees in an island in the driveway of the school as well as along the fence. Everyone who participates will get their name on the tree that they help plant!

Its an amazing initiative as the school does so much for the children. We would absolutely love it if you would join us for this truly special event! Look forward to seeing you there!

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Saturday 31 January will be a special day for Christel House Academy – a not-for-profit school for disadvantaged children in Cape Town - as local media and bloggers, as well as staff members and learners from the school, will get their hands dirty to planted 100 indigenous trees in what is to become the first ever urban school fynbos reserve in the Western Cape.

The fynbos initiative that the school is undertaking at their new premises in Ottery is being led by Kelvin Cochrane who has managed many similar projects on behalf of the City of Cape Town in recent years – including the restoration at one of the major vleis on the Cape Flats known as Princess Vlei near Grassy Park.

Cochrane says that he has been involved in many big fynbos projects to date, but that this is the first time that a school has commissioned his help on a project of this scale.

“Christel House will be the first school to undertake a fynbos initiative of this size – with more than 20 000 plants to be planted over time.”

The entire project will take approximately two to three years to complete and when finished will boast a sanctuary of indigenous trees, like the Cape ash and other endangered fynbos species like the Erica Verticcillata.

“The plans have been set to make this fynbos reserve a truly magnificent resource of plant life, insect and bird life that the children, teachers, and surrounding community will greatly benefit from,” says Cochrane.

Sharon Williams, Director of Development and Marketing at the School says that the initiative is going to be especially good for the learners as they will now get the opportunity to learn, not only from a text book, but from practical experience, about the biology and history of indigenous flora as well as the different insects, birds and animals that are expected to take up residence in the reserve once it is established.

“This wonderful new sanctuary will become a big part of the curriculum for the students and furthermore will form a tangible part of our mission to create lasting change in our students, who all come from impoverished homes where such things as trees and rare animals do not feature.

“We are all so excited about the process. The learners have been involved since day one with the first tree planting and we are looking forward to more such occasions where they can get first-hand experience of the process of planting trees,” says Williams.

What makes the fynbos project at Christel House so unique is not only the fact that it is the first time it is being done on such a scale, but also how many people are going to benefiting as a result of the reserve.

Cochrane explains that they have also recruited and trained many workers from the informal settlement adjacent to the school - Freedom Park - to help manage the daily operations of the reserve and to assist with the maintenance as well as the security of the reserve when the school grounds are empty.

“I find it inspirational to be a part of a project that reaches and has the potential to change so many people’s lives,” says Cochrane.

When the project is completed, there will be fynbos on every available piece of land within the school grounds and the immediate surrounds.