Vissershok fun and festivities

In addition to holding the Christmas party at Hooggekraal Farm, which is opposite Vissershok Primary, Psitek supports the school with its ‘Sandwich Factory' on an ongoing basis. The Sandwich Factory is a food distribution project that provides lunches for the children at various schools and organisations. Psitek in conjunction with other corporations makes and supplies sandwiches to Vissershok Primary on a weekly basis.

Vissershok Primary School is one of the most needy farm schools in the Durbanville and Tableview vicinities. It has 360 pupils who are the children of farm workers and people living in underprivileged townships and squatter camps in the Durbanville and Tableview surrounds. Many of the pupils come from the poverty-stricken township of Du Noon.

Last week however, boerewors rolls, ice-creams and cold drinks, a visit from Santa Claus, and surprise Christmas party packs were the order of the day. Face painting, jumping castles, a clown and magician show complemented the activities.

Vissershok has been in existence since 1973, when it was started by a group of farm owners living in the areas situated around Klein Vissershok. As the number of pupils grew, a larger school building was needed and this was then built in 1987. The number of pupils has continued to increase, particularly in the last few years. A high percentage of the parents are unemployed and have tremendous financial burdens. This means they are often hard-pressed to contribute to school fees, which has a negative impact on the school's funds, and sadly many of the school's planned initiatives cannot be implemented.

The initiative focuses on projects that assist in education, and lead to growth and empowerment in South Africa.