PLASTIC FANTASTIC

A Gauteng NPO is using recycled material to build classrooms in Diepsloot so that children can have extra lessons

- SIPHOKAZI ZAMA

TRASH into treasure is a phrase we’ve heard often – but in this instance the treasure is truly precious and the trash is changing the lives of South African children desperate to learn.

A non-profit organisation called Khensani’s Collection has turned the rubbish in Diepsloot, Gauteng, into classrooms and this inspirational project is educating people far beyond the walls of this eco-friendly venture.

Khensani’s Collection has three classrooms accommodating more than 100 children in all grades. The classrooms are structures made of ecobricks – plastic bottles stuffed with clean and dry materials such as chip packets, chocolate wrappers and bread bags.

Diana Musara, CEO of Khensani’s Collection, has a master’s degree in entrepreneurship and venture creation and discovered ecobricks on a visit to an entrepreneurship workshop several years ago. “I couldn’t believe it when they told me you could use these bricks to build classrooms,” she says. “I started doing research on where these bricks had been used to build and how they did it.”