US teacher delivers on promise at Addo school

Holiday meeting with lodge waiter inspired R6m upgrade, with new academic centre An unlikely friendship between a US teacher and an Addo waiter saw a dream come true for hundreds of Vusumzi Higher Primary pupils as the school received a R6-million upgrade, funded through donations.

Following a visit in 2008 to the River Bend Lodge in Addo to celebrate her 50th birthday, Martha Cummings, 59, was so moved by the compassion and faith displayed by head waiter Moses Mzolisi Nqanthsa, 43, that she later established the Univer- sal Promise non-profit organisation. And the Rhode Island teacher and Universal Promise director delivered on a promise yesterday that she had made to Nqanthsa. Together with other US roleplayers, Cummings handed over a state-of-the-art Universal Promise Academic Centre at Vusumzi Higher Primary in Addo’s Nothamsanqa informal settlement. She said that over seven years the NPO had raised more than $500 000 (almost R6-million) to assist in demolishing a section of the school. The money was then also used to build a centre boasting arts and dance studios, a science lab and technology labs. The NPO also continued to fund the refurbishment of the remaining classrooms, installing a fully equipped computer lab, a clean-water system and an outside play area that includes a netball court. “It started as a 50th birthday celebrahistory tion in South Africa and the intention was to go on a safari in the Addo Elephant National Park and then tour the country. But then I met Moses,” Cummings said. “I had never met anyone so gracious, so open-hearted. I asked him where his kids went to school and the next day he showed me. “The school was a glaring reflection of the post-apartheid consequences – asbestos roofs and brittle wooden structure.

“I have always been interested in the of the country and particularly education, being an educator. “And once we launched the NPO, people heard about our cause via word of mouth and started donating.” Universal Promise named the main hall in the new building after Nqanthsa. “When I met Martha, something told me to talk to this woman as she was here to help us,” he said. “So I opened up and made her aware of the situation and she, together with her team of volunteers, has changed the lives of thousands living here “I was born here and I have seen how the youth lose faith because of the lack of opportunity. “So to have something like this happen is remarkable. “This community will begin to foster its potential and talent that are our youth and start to make a difference from within our area,” he said. School principal Vuyani Sampies said the centre would allow the school’s 690 pupils to develop through holistic education. “In Addo, we lose a lot of our youth to more urbanised areas in PE and Uitenhage and their skills are used to develop those areas,” Sampies said. “Through the labs, arts and dance studios we are able to provide pupils with a more holistic education.”