Organising and hosting a party for 300 Bonteheuwel children was a real community initiative with everybody helping in some way or another.
This is according to Soraya Salie, chairwman of the Bonteheuwel Walking Ladies.
The party was held at the Bonteheuwel multi-pupose centre on Tuesday December 27.
Ms Salie’s organisation was approached to host the children’s party by member of Parliament, Ahmed Munzoor Shaik-Emam.
“We would like to thank Mr Shaik-Emam for this initiative and the trust in us to take charge and organise this magical party for 300 children. The Bonteheuwel Walking Ladies (BWL), together with Bonteheuwel Joint Peace Forum (JPF) and Bonteheuwel Rates Payers and Tenants Association (BRATA) embraced the invitation and the children turned up in their numbers.
“When you hear one child telling the other that this T-shirt, the one she received at the party, is ‘my Christmas clothes, because I didn’t get anything for Christmas’, it just put a lump in my throat, and I couldn’t stop the tears from eyes and heart,” Ms Salie said.
Mr Shaik-Emam is the founder member of the New Freedom Party (NFP), based in KwaZulu-Natal.
The NFP donated party packs and some of the ingredients for the pot of food that was cooked.
Members of the BWL also donated gifts for the children, juice and fruit. “Special thanks to the Samaai and Suleiman families for all the wrapped gifts and backpacks that put an extra smile on the faces,” said Ms Salie.
“Thanks to Team BWL, team JPF, team BRATA and all the helping hands who made it possible to bring smiles to 300 little faces, including Mr Akbar, who donated some ingredients and cooked a beautiful pot of food for all. Not forgetting our sound man, Fuad Andrews, who always avails himself when we need him. Also a special thanks to our entertainers, Aziza Davids and her team from the Rosa Choir, Cape Cultural Collective, and Waseef Piekaan, who sacrificed their valuable time to come all the way to Bonteheuwel to entertain our children.
“This was so amazing. No words can express our appreciation,” she added.
