GO 14 November 2019

6 GOT A NEWS STORY? Call our news desk on (043) 702-2125. Find us on Facebook 14 November 2019 GO & EXPRESS
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graphic © seamartini / 123RF.com
Hope Schools celebrates milestone
Founders Day
brings chance
to show off
new additions
AMANDA NANO
It was a day of great blessings
and jubilation on Tuesday as
Hope Schools celebrated their
14th Founders Day while also
showing off some of the new
additions to the school.
The day kicked off with a
guided tour by the pupils to
various departments of the
school such as the skills
development and grade R, grade
2 and grade 7 classrooms.
Skills development
coordinator Philip Wynne said
they hoped to kit out the
building as a workshop in the
near future.
“It is absolutely fantastic to
have this. You can see the huge
amount of pride for pupils with
the skills they have learnt and
the projects they have
c o m p l e t e d ,” Wynne said.
The skills development
programmes include woodwork,
metal work, plumbing,
cooking and sewing classes.
Wynne said the programmes
PROUD HERITAGE: Hope Schools board chairman Dr Alan Staples, from left, and behind him, Bernd Gombert, Ruth
Gombert and Martin Molter at the unveiling of the Sois Blessd Hall Stone at the school’s Founders Day in East London on
Tuesday Picture: AMANDA NANO
also open up a different world of
opportunities for the pupils.
The school hall, with a
dining hall on the ground floor,
is approaching completion. The
school renovations and added
facilities have been sponsored
by an anonymous German
c o m p a ny.
School board chair Dr Alan
Staples said the school had
come a long way since its
founding.
“The school hall is named
after Ruth and Bernd Gombert’s
business in Germany, Sois
Blessed (So Blessed), which sells
some of our children’s
c r e a t i o n s ,” Staples said.
Ruth Gombert said it was a
pleasure for them to be back at
the school.
“We appreciate everyone for
their dedication in creating this
space and all who made this
p o s s i b l e ,” she said.
Gombert was the guest
speaker at the 2018 Founders
Day, and had flown out again to
South Africa with her husband,
Bernd.
Guests at the event included
principals from Selborne
College, Stirling Primary and
Port Rex Technical High
schools, to name but a few.
School co-founder and guest
speaker Rev John Benn
highlighted that everyone was
on a journey to the unknown
with God.
“We had faith through the
hardships while starting the
school. We hope to move
forward but without love we
have nothing. God leaves us
with these three things: faith,
hope and love. I do hope the
greatest tradition to come out
the school is love,” Benn said.
Tokens of appreciation were
also given to all those that had
assisted with the school over the
ye a r s .
Fun activities for the pupils
included participating in an
obstacle course while their
parents, teachers and visitors
looked on.
SURPRISE SHOWER
Merrifield pupils seek shelter under umbrellas as much-needed rain falls across East London
recently Picture: TARALYN MCLEAN