Interview with Allan Schwarer – 1941 – 45 Allan and his brother Paul attended Saxonwold Primary until Marist Inanda opened in 1941 and were pupils at the school until they were relocated to Kimberly. Allan recalled that Br Urban was the headmaster and a Br Pius was the eldest brother and well liked by the boys. Br Urban came from Australia and Allan’s father helped him with regard to local regulations etc regarding building work. As far as he can remember the school started with standard1. Allan’s family lived next to the Killarney golf course in West Street and he remembers playing in a lane than ran alongside their property. To get to school they caught a bus as far as Dunkeld and from there the school provided a taxi. All the roads to the north were dirt roads and Inanda was very much in the country. Other boys that he remembers being in his class were Michael Clarke, Steve Muller and Carl Vermeulen. They used to play marbles in the quad and cricket although there was no soccer. The school’s chapel was upstairs, Allan currently undertakes legal work for the Catholic church. JE July 2012
Interview with Alison Smith – Parent Alison has been associated with St David’s from 1997 until 2012 whilst her sons Alistair and Stuart were pupils at the school. She also assisted with a number of projects and stood in as “Matron” on a number of occasions. Alison helped behind the scenes in a number of ways believing that care and support stand out at St David’s. A qualified nurse, she assisted Father Michael with special dressings when he contracted cellulitus after his knee surgery and provided Monday evening meals for him and Father Chaka for some time. Alison was on the line at rugby matches ready to assist if necessary and recalls meeting a rugby union referee who she found impressive and particular in his requirements from medical support at matches. Encouraged by Sharmani Pillay, the school’s child psychologist, she put together the manual for schools writing the “Grief, Loss and Bereavement Policy for Schools”. Eric Annegarn’s company assisted in the printing and publication of the manual. Having the time, knowledge and connections with Hospice, Alison also arranged that Caren Marcus undertake two workshops with teachers before the school term started covering other aspects of grief, loss and bereavement in a school context. The workshops were entitled “Bereavment in Schools” and “Hot Chocolate for the Teachers’ Soul”. The Catholic School of Education also asked Alison and Sharmani to present a workshop for boys in Catholic schools. This was a valuable experience and, judging by the feedback was worthwhile. Alison is also closely involved with “Children of Fire” and St David’s has participated by the outreach programme in community service with the organisation. Two boys Ruelle Jarvis and Joshua Jarvis are currently being educated at St David’s with a bursary from the Foundation. Some experiences have not been pleasant and Alison and her mother were hijacked at gunpoint whilst waiting for the boys outside St David’s. The school was very supportive in helping them both to deal with the trauma. Ten days later Judy Sexwale hit the headlines when she too was hijacked at gunpoint at the same spot. As Alison’s husband Robin has been a member and chairman of the board of governors and is the current chairman of the Foundation, she is still very much involved with the school behind the scenes. JLE September 2014
