The dreams of Cape Flats kids took flight when the Gift of the Givers organisation treated them to an aeroplane flight on Sunday.
The children from Athlone, Kraaifontein and Manenberg were on cloud nine after they spent the better part of the day with pilots on the N7 Cape Farms.
The Plane Project in partnership with Morningstar Flying Club and the Gift of the Givers took 40 orphaned children up in the air.
Kelly Slingers says: “I run the NGO called The Plane Project, we fly relief supplies to remote areas and we started this initiative in Johannesburg last year when we took 20 kids from children’s homes in Pretoria and we took them flying and we had pilots volunteer their time and planes and it was a fun day.
“I wanted to do the same thing in the Western Cape and I do a lot of work with The Gift of Givers, so I flew a lot of their supplies and I approached them and told them I wanted to do something similar and that I need their support. They agreed.”
She says they thought this would be a good way to end Youth Month.
“We started planning this a couple of weeks ago with the 11 pilots and their planes. It’s incredible that people decided to rally together in this initiative.”
Manenberg Safe House mother Fatima Manasse says they were all excited: “This will last in their memories. I know that some of them will now stop dreaming about being nurses but will want to be pilots. We are very grateful for this and that the kids were able to get a different kind of experience.”
Brandon Rooms, 17, of Kraaifontein says being flown around has given him an interest in aviation.
"At first I was scared, especially when there was turbulence and when the plane was descending, my stomach went up but then I relaxed and enjoyed every part of the trip.
“The experience is one I will never forget and it has made me want to be a pilot.”