VIDEO: Don’t refuse hungry kids

The teacher of slain Klawer teen Jerobejin van Wyk has urged residents not to turn hungry children away from their doors.

Speaking during the funeral for the Grade 4 learner from Nieuwoudt Primary School, teacher Cameron Blaine said children in rural areas faced many socio-economic challenges.

“He was naughty like any child but I did not really sukkel with him. He was a playful child,” she said.

Deputy principal, Sandra de Jongh, says Jerobejin’s death has left his classmates traumatised.

“It was a big shock and especially his friends at school. We had to handle it very sensitively. We waited until the day it was confirmed that it really was him,” she said.

“There was hope that it wasn’t him and when the final result came, that it was him, we had to switch off and start accepting it.”

Cameron says many children in rural communities come to class hungry as poverty is rife.

“It is a very big problem. Many of our children are not well off and us as teachers, we try our best to give every child just a little bit of food and I want to appeal to people that if a child comes to shout at your gates and asks you for a piece of bread, if you have, please give to that child so that we can avoid what happened.

“It hurts me very deeply because I knew him, he was in my class every day and I don’t want this to happen again to any of our children.”

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