I don’t know about you, but I was a very fortunate child, attending a fancy pants li’l junior school where we all wore spiffy uniforms and felt extremely hard done by if our tuck shop had the gall to run dry of chocolate Steri-Stumpi. If that happened, it was The End of the World. And don’t get me started on the shizzle that would go down should the art department run out of gold magic markers. Oh! My! God! How the hell do you expect me to guild the wings of my Pegasus, Mrs. Bowes? Woman, are you even listening to me?!

So ja. There’s that. And then there’s the cold, hard fact that a whopping 3 000 000 learners attend school each day and none of them have a desk. They don’t have a desk! Can you imagine trying to learn while you’re kneeling on the floor, balancing what little school supplies you have in your lap? And chances are they’re hungry too…

Anyway, there’s a campaign that’s trying to change all that, one desk at a time, and that’s Tutudesk, so named after its patron, Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

To help create awareness for Tutudesk, I was asked to attempt to work without a desk for a day. While I tried, I only lasted until lunch time after which it felt like my back was going to give in.

Working in a plush li’l apartment surrounded by press releases, product and the suitcase you’re too lazy to pack away (it’s been five days now, God, what is wrong with me?!) is sucky, but hardly as rubbish as not having a desk at all. But this is where Tutudesk comes in.

Last year, local fundraising programme MySchool helped contribute 7 000 of them to learners and now they aim to put even more desks in laps thanks to a new campaign: Every time you swipe your Woolworths MySchool My Village MyPlanet card from this Saturday to Tuesday (June 13 to 16) R1 will go to Tutudesk. This is over and above the R1 that already goes towards your beneficiary of choice.

If you already have a MySchool card, good on you and get swiping. If you don’t, you can sign up for one here. It only takes a minute and you don’t need to worry about having to carry an extra card around. I’ve had mine linked to my Woolies card so every time I swipe it, I’m helping my charities of choice. Here’s hoping you’ll do the same.

Love, love

Leigh