{"id":228534,"date":"2022-06-10T10:16:09","date_gmt":"2022-06-10T08:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/?p=116952"},"modified":"2022-06-10T10:16:09","modified_gmt":"2022-06-10T08:16:09","slug":"new-lady-mother-of-africa-statue-commissioned-to-honour-the-st-benedicts-class-of-2020-2021-and-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/new-lady-mother-of-africa-statue-commissioned-to-honour-the-st-benedicts-class-of-2020-2021-and-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"New Lady Mother Of Africa Statue Commissioned To Honour the St Benedict\u2019s Class of 2020, 2021 and 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1 \">\n<aside id=\"republication_tracker_tool-2\" class=\"republication_tracker_tool clearfix\">\n<h5 class=\"adtitle\">Republish for Free<\/h5>\n<div class=\"license\">\n<p><button name=\"Republish This Story\" id=\"cc-btn\" class=\"republication-tracker-tool-button\">Republish This Story<\/button><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"license\" rel=\"noreferrer license noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Creative Commons License\" class=\"lazyload\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/new-lady-mother-of-africa-statue-commissioned-to-honour-the-st-benedicts-class-of-2020-2021-and-2022.png\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Creative Commons License\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/new-lady-mother-of-africa-statue-commissioned-to-honour-the-st-benedicts-class-of-2020-2021-and-2022.png\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"message\">\n<p>Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/aside>\n<figure id=\"attachment_116953\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-116953\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/?attachment_id=116953\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt width=\"300\" height=\"157\" class=\"wp-image-116953 size-thumbnail lazyload\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/new-lady-mother-of-africa-statue-commissioned-to-honour-the-st-benedicts-class-of-2020-2021-and-2022-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-116953 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/new-lady-mother-of-africa-statue-commissioned-to-honour-the-st-benedicts-class-of-2020-2021-and-2022-1.png\" alt width=\"300\" height=\"157\"><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-116953\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A new bronze statue of our Lady, Mother of Africa, commissioned and unveiled to honour the class of 2020, 2021 And 2022 Photo: St Benedicts<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The ravages and trauma of COVID are indisputable. No one was out of reach of the clutches of the pandemic which denied and took so much from everyone over the last two years. This was particularly true for pupils in their final year of school \u2013 the pinnacle of their school career. Wanting to acknowledge, commemorate and honour the experiences forfeited, opportunities sacrificed and dreams deferred by all the matric boys of 2020, 2021 and 2022 \u2013 St Benedict\u2019s Boy\u2019s College commissioned a new bronze statue of our Lady, Mother of Africa.<\/p>\n<p>The beautiful work of art was unveiled at the school\u2019s recent Founders\u2019 Day event \u2013 a truly memorable occasion and the first time since COVID that the school could gather as a community. The fact that the OMI priests from far and wide were present in commissioning this sacramental made the occasion that much more meaningful.<\/p>\n<p>A crowd-funding initiative was set up to raise the finances needed for the project. In his address at the statue\u2019s unveiling, Executive Head, Andre Oosthuysen said, \u201cIn these difficult financial times the appeal was not warmly received by all, but it was heard by sufficient parents whose generosity has allowed the dream to become a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Adding to this Oosthuysen said that the sculpture is symbolic of how we triumphed over COVID and a reminder that the Mother of Christ is an intercessor who approaches Jesus on our behalf \u2013 she hears the drumbeat of our prayers.<\/p>\n<p>Heidi Hadaway, the same sculptor who created the school\u2019s statue of St Benedict\u2019s, was responsible for the beautiful effigy installed near the new staircase that descends from the basketball courts to the Mazenod Block. She faces north looking across the school\u2019s grotto towards the rest of Africa and is set upon a granite block where every 2020, 2021 and 2022 matric boy\u2019s name is inscribed in remembrance. The matrics of 2022 were also included because two years of their senior high school career have also been severely derailed by the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>In his address Oosthuysen spoke of \u201ca dream deferred\u201d \u2013 a deliberate allusion to the poem \u201cHarlem\u201d penned by Langston Hughes:<\/p>\n<p>What happens to a dream deferred?<\/p>\n<p>Does it dry up<br \/>like a raisin in the sun?<br \/>Or fester like a sore\u2014<br \/>And then run?<br \/>Does it stink like rotten meat?<br \/>Or crust and sugar over\u2014<br \/>like a syrupy sweet?<\/p>\n<p>Maybe it just sags<br \/>like a heavy load.<\/p>\n<p>Or does it explode?<br \/>\u201cI hope we will always look at this statue and be reminded of the concerns raised by pupils of colour at our school \u2013 and others across the country through the Black Lives Matter movement \u2013 following the murder of George Floyd at the height of the pandemic,\u201d added Oosthuysen. \u201cIt will also remind us how as a school we value and place enormous importance on the identity and belonging of families of colour in our school.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWritten for a different community in a different country and time; the poem asks questions about what happens to postponed dreams when, in an oppressive environment, some, because of who they are, do not feel free to dream and have to defer or postpone their dreams. It\u2019s my hope that this new statue of our Lady \u2013 in her African form, identity or manifestation \u2013 will be a daily reminder to one and all that our faith and school aspire to be inclusive and that all are welcome here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Oosthuysen went on to say that everyone has a duty and responsibility \u2013 as individuals and as a community \u2013 through words and deeds \u2013 to turn that sentiment into reality. He implored those present to join together in building a great South African, African school.<\/p>\n<p>In closing he said, \u201cLet not the words \u2018we all belong here\u2019 be a hollow sentiment from the lines of the school song \u2013 but rather a certainty that rings true for each one of our boys, parents and staff. Let us be a school where dreams are never deferred but fulfilled.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/mypr.co.za\/contact\/featured\/\">CLICK HERE to submit your press release to MyPR.co.za<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p> <span class=\"post-views-icon dashicons dashicons-chart-bar\"><\/span> <span class=\"post-views-label\">Press Release Views:<\/span> <span class=\"post-views-count\">80<\/span> <\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-pagination pagination\">Pages: <span class=\"post-page-numbers current\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Page <\/span>1<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/new-lady-mother-of-africa-statue-commissioned-to-honour-the-st-benedicts-class-of-2020-2021-and-2022\/2\/\" class=\"post-page-numbers\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Page <\/span>2<\/a><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\">Source: MyPR.co.za<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Republish for Free Republish This Story Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. A new bronze statue of our Lady, Mother of Africa, commissioned and unveiled to honour the class of 2020, 2021 And 2022 Photo: St Benedicts The ravages and trauma of COVID are indisputable. No one [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":228535,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9021],"tags":[3257],"class_list":{"0":"post-228534","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mypr","8":"tag-mypr","9":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/new-lady-mother-of-africa-statue-commissioned-to-honour-the-st-benedicts-class-of-2020-2021-and-2022.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228534\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}