Primary school pupils from both mainstream and special-education schools took part in a kite-decorating competition last month as part of the 2022 Cape Town International Kite Festival.
The Edukite competition’s theme, “Fly Your Dreams”, was chosen for this year’s festival, according to Dr Ingrid Daniels, CEO of Cape Mental Health.
“It has been a very difficult three and a half years with the Covid-19 pandemic, and it’s been an adjustment for pupils getting back into the school routine. We wanted to encourage them to keep dreaming, to know they have skills and talents and to take back their confidence,” Dr Daniels said.
Pupils were tasked with decorating the kites to show their understanding of the theme and what it meant for their mental health.
Dr Daniels explained that the aim of the competition was to have the pupils understand the importance of their mental health.
“Just like little kites that are tossed around in strong winds, children also face challenges in a world that can be risky and frightening. The state of their mental health is critical because it determines how they navigate their future,” she said.
Schools were invited to enter the competition online by taking a team photo of four pupils each holding their decorated kites and uploading the photo to their Facebook profile.
From these entries, ten schools were selected and invited to the prize-giving which took place at Zandvlei Lookout in Muizenberg on Saturday October 29. The selected schools displayed their decorated kites at the clubhouse.
A panel of judges decided on the winning school teams in two categories: pupils with special educational needs and pupils from mainstream primary schools.
Dr Daniels, who was one of the judges on the day, told the Echo she found it hard to make a decision.
“ It was not easy, I was pleased that there were four of us who made the final decisions.”
When asked what she thought of the entries she said, “I was blown away by the kite designs. They were brilliantly done. The creativity is mind-boggling, and the interpretation of the actual theme was amazing.”
First place went to Silverlea Primary and Dorothea School, which each won R3000.
The second place winners were Blouvlei School and Christel House, both winning R2000, and the third place winners were Caravel Primary and Beacon School, both winning R1000.
Cape Mental Health has hosted the Cape Town Kite Festival since 1994. The annual flagship event raises funds to enable the organisation to continue providing essential mental health-care services to those who are most in need.
