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Carnival on Monash campus promises lots of fun for all

15 May 2009

Organisers of the Monash Carnival from the left: Monash South Africa students Shereen Banda, Chelsea Middleton and Sandra Bartonjo.
Organisers of the Monash Carnival from the left: Monash South Africa students Shereen Banda, Chelsea Middleton and Sandra Bartonjo.

On Saturday, 23 May, from 12:00 to 18:00, the first ever Monash Carnival will be held on the Monash South Africa campus, at 144 Peter Road, Ruimsig.

At this fun event there will be at least 30 stalls, live entertainment and several different Carnival rides. The live entertainment will include some of Monash’s own talent, rock band Eclipse, dance group Punk Degree, Monash DJ’s and more.

Other fun activities will include two jumping castles, one for kids and one for adults; a mechanical bull; archery; a dunk tank; parachute adventures and a shooting tunnel. There will also be stilt walkers, face painting, a temporary tattoo artist as well as balloon artists.

A wide variety of food stalls will be selling traditional carnival foods such as popcorn, candy- floss, hotdogs and chips, while others will provide carnival goers with the option of a diverse range of food. There will also be stalls selling curio goods, beads, portraits and stationery to name just to name a few.

This student initiative is being presented by the Monash University Student Volunteer Programme (MSVP) in conjunction with the Student Women’s Forum and the Student Development team. The event organisers are Kenyan student Sandra Bartonjo, South African student Shereen Banda and Australian student Chelsea Middleton.

 “We are extremely excited and passionate about this new project,” says Chelsea Middleton. “We are thrilled to be inviting the surrounding community to come and support this worthwhile event. We hope that the carnival will reflect on Monash’s theme “Unity amongst diversity,” by showcasing the passion, unity and dedication of the student body has in helping the local community.”  

The Carnival initiative was originally created to give ten grade 11 and 12 entrepreneurial learners from the local Zandspruit community an opportunity to sell their products. These learners participate in the Monash Saturday Weekend Programme and have been taking a business class run by Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) together with the MUSVP.  The original idea was to give each learner who has developed a small business the opportunity to hold a stall on Saturday.

During the planning stages the event then escalated into what is now a full-scale carnival. Organiser Shereen Banda says: “We are hoping the local community will support this worthwhile event. The proceeds will go towards developing and implementing a sustainable community programme to create awareness, and provide medical assistance, specifically in the areas of HIV/Aids and women’s health at the Zandspruit Medical Clinic. Entrance is R10 per head or R30 per car.