Residents in Pretoria are feeling very festive and the Christmas lights and decorations at the Danville lighthouse, west of the city, are testimony to that. It is time for Christmas carols and it is always done in style at the Danville lighthouse.
The house gets wrapped with about 150 000 lights and other Christmas decorations. However, more than just feeling merry and bright about this, the idea is to provide a heart-warming atmosphere for the less privileged in the area.
“We are so grateful. The public helped us so much this year. We hand out food parcels to everyone of our families; its 950 families. There’s nothing different, but I must say I did see this year that the public can stand together; people are willing to help one another,” says one of the organisers, Jacomien Van Der Merwe.
The project was started 24 years ago and is dependent on the public donations.
Children also write letters to Santa Clause, requesting either for school uniform, sweets or teddy bears
“It’s quite emotional. I have never been here before. I’ve heard of the place and reading the stories over there just makes you want to do something to help,” says one of the residents.
Residents come out it their numbers at the lighthouse. The lights will be on until the 1 January.
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