By Susan Dixon | Donor Relations Manager
We are so excited about the progress being made to launch 4 Early Childhood Development Schools in South Africa. We have identified the prime location for the first school, which will be in the township of Philippi, less than a mile from our current center. It is currently unused, government owned land and in order to aquire it, there are processes that have to be followed. We have several government councillors and other government departments that have become our advocates in this and are helping us push through the necessary channels to gain this land. Once the land purchase is complete, we will have enough land to start off with a school of 35 children, but large enough for us to scale it up to 70 children in the future. The school will have classrooms, kitchen, bathrooms, a playground, and most importantly, all built with the safety and security of the children top of mind.
As we forge ahead in aquiring the land, we have identified the builders for our first school and determined the curriculum we will use with the children. It is an excellent program called the Shapes Curriculum which has been accredited by the Department of Education in South Africa and is currently used by many high quality schools throughout the Western Cape. Students will learn how to be curious, creative, and confident. They will learn how to be resilient and healthy in mind, body, and spirit.
The teachers and assistants for each school will be selected from the local community and will undergo 3 weeks of intensive training as well as ongoing training. All teachers will have the minimum standard of a Cert 5 in ECD and will be taught how to intentionally create nurturing learning environments for the children to thrive in.
With your support, we are getting so much closer to launching our first school here in Philippi. We are hoping to break ground end of this year, and have it ready for children to start at the beginning of next year and still need about $40,000 to make this school a reality. This first school will be the scaleable so it will cost more than future ones and once we have it built, it will serve as a model for future schools we plan to develop.
Thank you so much for your continued support of this project! Please share with friends and family. Together, we can make a difference.
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