School for 25 at-risk children in South Africa

It's summer in the Northern Hemisphere, but that means it's been cold and unsettled in South Africa. Project manager Kissmea tells us, "The past few weeks have been particularly difficult with the stormy weather raging through the townships.  Schools were closed on account of the weather. This was a concern because the schools offer two cooked meals a day for the children and as expected, they came back to school to nutritious meals and a warm environment. The children in our schools live in shacks or unsafe government housing." She continues, "The Love to Langa scholarships to Mfuleni and Philippi have been a godsend. The children sponsored are either orphaned or have unemployed parents and live below the breadline. The children at Philippi are also being sponsored for swimming lessons in an indoor heated pool built by Love to Langa. To describe the joy is beyond wonderful.  The scholarship children for the school programme are among the first in the Townships who are exposed to the Montessori philosophy.  The children have normalized in the classrooms and a few of them have started with their writing skills."

Mfuleni ECD has decided to pay it forward by inviting children to school who are currently not enrolled due to lack of funding. From Principal Sandra: "I am so proud to say if it was not for Love to Langa then we would have dropouts. When parents go through difficult financial situations, the first thing that happens is their children drop out of school. I would also like to mention because of our constructive daily programme, one of our field workers moved her child to our school in the townships because we are a Centre of excellence due to our program. Lakheka, Emile, Raphael, Lutho M, Simamkele, Hlonela, Gorgeous, Ropafadzo, Lutho L and Alison are very happy and progressing very well. Alison is standing out with ballet dancing and putting our school on the map. We also performed on the first of June at the International Children's Day."