Nelson Mandela Park PS students to fly to South Africa

By Mirnada H. Beninger –

Cate Dempsey-Galle has a dream. By the first week of July, she hopes to be able to raise enough funds to be able to fly across the globe to South Africa for three weeks. At age eleven, she is the youngest of a small group of children at Nelson Mandela Park Public School hoping to embark on a first-time exchange with South African Students.

Along with ten other students who want to make the trip, Cate is vigorously fundraising for what might be the most memorable experience of her childhood. She has helped with bake sales, skip-a-thons, chocolate bar sales, a silent auction and penny drives over the past year—but she knows that’s not enough.

“I would be really sad if not all of us can go. I want everyone to go, to have this wonderful experience,” she says.

In order to buy plane tickets and cover bare minimum costs, the school is still $5,000 away from making it to South Africa. That’s why Cate knows she needs to do everything she can to make this trip happen. “Me and some of my friends are organizing a book sale, and we’re writing our own books and making up a school magazine. We’re really going to do it right,” she says.

So far students and faculty at Nelson Mandela Park Public School have raised $25,000—but there is still a long way to go.  Sherri Gilbert, the trip coordinator, says reaching their minimum goal of $30,000 is not enough.

“For many of these students, this will be the only time they will get to go to South Africa. Realistically, for many of them, this could be the only time they go that far,” she says.  

In December, the South African students participating on the exchange from Battswood Primary School finally made it to Canada for their portion of the exchange. Students at Nelson Mandela Park Public School helped fundraise school supplies and billeted the South African students in their own family homes.

Three years ago, the exchange seemed like just a good idea—but now it’s becoming reality. It all began when Nelson Mandela Park Public School’s former principal had an idea to send his students to South Africa.

At the same time, the principal at Battswood Primary School in Cape Town was thinking the same thing. When he saw the Canadian school in Toronto included Nelson Mandela’s name, he emailed the principal.

Finally, when Gilbert took a year off teaching to travel, she went to South Africa to see if she could put a plan in gear. She visited Battswood Primary School and began to think of ways that she could get her students to South Africa. It took several years and rigorous fundraising, but finally her students are hoping to meet their South African friends again in their homeland.

Gilbert wants the students—many who come from low-income families—to be able to see their dreams come true. Since it was Nelson Mandela who named the school she has taught at for over a decade, she would like her students to be able to meet him once again in Johannesburg.

The minimum goal of $30,000 will get these children to South Africa—but it will not allow them to experience all the sights, and it will not allow them to travel outside of Cape Town to Johannesburg. That’s why Gilbert is hoping the community will get involved—in order to offer the students a deluxe tour in return for all their hard work.

“Helping these kids to make it a reality is important,” she says. “Right now we have managed half of the dream—we’re trying to show these kids to dream big, and that whatever your circumstances, you can do it. Many of our students deal with issues of poverty every day.”

Cate’s mom, Darlene Dempsey-Galle, can’t wait for her child to experience another country. She is the co-chair of the parents’ council, and is also working to help fundraise for the trip.

“You’re talking about Regent Park, one of the poorest communities, that has the rare opportunity to go halfway around the world,” she says. “When the South Africans came and visited us last December, they went on class trips with the students and experienced our culture. Now they are excited to see these students come back to them and see their home.”

Cate is excited too. She can’t wait to experience the culture, the language, and the sights.

“Sherri has worked so hard to make us go,” she says. “I am just so happy to be able to do this and experience this.”

But her experience depends in part on donations from the community. In order to help Cate and the other Regent Park students get to South Africa, visit the Nelson Mandela Park Public School web site for more information on how to help.