Life at the Bay

Throughout our lives, from childhood to adulthood, community is an essential part of everyday existence. The beauty behind selfless acts lies not only in the party receiving the act of service, but the shared experience between the giver and the receiver. Community Service Learning is one way that Sugar Bay gives back to the local community and Bongimfundo Primary School is one of the schools that benefit from our Service Learning initiative. We are always happy to host the school at Sugar Bay and we delight in seeing bright smiles from the learners.   Service Learning is a far-reaching and life-altering experience for students, where they undergo incredible growth in their emotional maturity and learn a great deal about themselves and as a part of a greater society. On their visit to the Bay, the American International School of Johannesburg shared a day of their school camp with the learners, where they relished in foursquare, space jump, chalking, body...

Sugar Bay does not host day visits for schools, but we make one exception. We are always honoured to host the learners of Bongimfundo Primary School free of charge. This year the smiles of ninety grade 3 and 4's arrived at camp filled with the Sugar Bay spirit. They were thrilled to spend the day playing at camp. Four Square, Space Jump, swimming and body art were among the long list of activities they relished on Friday, 11 May 2018. "I was scared when they told us we were coming to Sugar Bay, kodwa kum'nandi lana ! (It's so much fun here)" This is what Nosipho, age 9, said when she was asked about her experience at Sugar Bay. "I still can't believe it!" she exclaimed. Because every child is special, Sugar Bay supports student growth and different forms of education. Experiential education is Sugar Bay's specialisation. There are many things children can learn through play, for example interpersonal teamwork and problem-solving ski...

Imagine having to eat your one meal a day without a knife, fork or spoon, or having to drink your water straight from the tap instead of filling up your ultra-fancy water bottle with clean, filtered water. Children from Bongimfundo Primary School have none of these luxuries and very little more than the bare essentials, but the good news is that they are getting an education and Sugar Bay, together with the American International School of Johannesburg, was proud to be a part of that today. Today's Service Learning lessons had two main goals in mind: CONNECT and HAVE FUN! The pure, innocent, barrier-breaking, giggle-inducing fun that children can have together no matter their background, skin colour or social standing. The Grade 8s from AISJ were the reason for all the joy and laughter - they spent their morning doing a Service Learning project with students from Bongimfundo, a local school that works hard to provide an education to the children of local farm work...