Valley Primary School in Klipheuwel “We know that when it comes to education, nutrition is extremely important – a full belly means the children can focus better during classes. With the food that’s left over, we place it in containers for the children to take back home. In some cases, that is the only meal they will have in a day”. Christopher Smith, headmaster at Valley Primary School. “I must say, this has been the most awesome experience. Our colleagues having been coming here on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays to come and work in the gardens and tend to the vegetables. It has been the most fulfilling experience for everyone that I’ve worked with! So far we’ve planted about 2000 seedlings in just under 2 weeks. For me this means we can help alleviate poverty at the school as well as the community. We love getting our hands dirty to see how we can make a difference… ” Elize Sables, Performance Analyst at Sanlam Investments | staff project lead for Valley Primary Vegetable Garden initiative.

“This project has just been amazing! When we started this project, the field was just dust and sand and weeds. And if you look at it now, all you see are butterflies and nature sparking and restoring biodiversity in a space that was once dead. I bring my son here every second week, so that he can see what it means to nurture something from seed all the way to plant, and to hand it all over to the children. Now he’s starting to see what its like to give back. I think that's probably been the biggest thing for me. It feeds my soul and it feeds his soul. This garden is so much more than just growing and harvesting vegetables and feeding 190 kids. It's about feeding the children of tomorrow”. Manka Sebastian, Property Analyst at Sanlam Investments and active garden champion