1998-2000
For 2 years, staff and clients of Reservations Africa hand delivered school supplies to Lillydale B, a rural community on the outskirts of Kruger National Park and the surrounding Private Game Reserves. At the time, volunteer teachers were running a preschool from a one room church. In the course of a day, up to 130 children passed through this makeshift preschool. As the building was not secure and did not have storage facilities, each night the volunteer teachers had to take home all the supplies that had been delivered.

2000-2001
In November 2000, Reservations Africa made a commitment to the community to build a preschool. The local Village Chief donated land and we launched a series of fundraisers for 2001. By the end of the year, we had raised close to CAD 40 000.00

2002
Construction began in early 2002 and our lovely 10-room school was officially opened on May 16, 2002. Our principal, Luzile Xhosa organized the opening ceremonies and it was truly a day we will never forget. At the opening ceremonies, we made a commitment to the community to provide ongoing funding to sustain the school and continue to make improvements.

2003-2004
The staff of 8 (1 principal, 3 teachers, 2 cooks, 2 security guards) are now receiving small monthly salaries. This caused allot of excitement when we took them to the bank to open up their first bank accounts.

In August drilling began to source a borehole (well) After 2 unsuccessful strikes, we hit an aquifer 10 metres from the school water tank. Application was made to the local hydro company to electrify the school, which meant we could use a state of the art electric pump to supply water to the school. In many ways the water/electric project was harder to complete than building the school as this was time consuming and expensive. By July 2004, we had electricity and running water. Cost of this phase of the project was CAD 21500.00.

Once we had running water, we brought in top soil  and a vegetable garden was planted. School was repainted.

South Africa Tourism committed to training a tour guide from Lillydale B. Once trained, it is our intention to start village tours.

2005
Playground equipment made out of recycled products was purchased and delivered to the school. The courtyard is now full of swings, slides and climbing equipment. School was repainted a 2-tone colour and a local artist painted beautiful murals on the front of the school.

2006
Our next project to build a new preschool in the rural area of Sodwana Bay, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa. At the moment, "Sunshine Preschool" operates from a 2 room shack and 75-100 children ages 2-7 attend this school. We have partnered with KZN Wildlife, which will oversee the construction for us.

2007
On this annual visit, we discovered the provincial borders were adjusted slightly and now Lillydale B was in Mpumalanga rather than the Limpopo province, which did impact our preschool. In the past, the Limpopo province provided maize for the lunch program. With the vegetables from our garden and the maize we were able to provide a nutritious lunch for 120 children. Mpumalanga does not have such a program therefore we immediately initiated a proper food program. We have made arrangements with a bulk store to deliver the groceries every 6 weeks. Cost of the dry goods is approximately CAD 450.00 per 6-week cycle.

South African Tourism has finally fulfilled their commitment to train a tour guide from Lillydale B Fanake Sibuyi, and we have made arrangements for him to start driving lessons for his professional rating. We are moving closer to being able to offer village tours to the guests of the game reserves.

In June we hired a local carpenter to upgrade the kitchen with new kitchen cupboards, counters and another cafeteria table and benches. 

In November, Sabi Sabi sent a rather large staff contingent to the school to repaint the interior classrooms and to do general repairs and to assess the septic problems. Sabi Sabi recently hired Peter Mabila who will liaise with the local community and assist us to continue mapping out our future plans. Peter's assistance is immeasurable as he speaks the local language and has a complete understanding of the needs of the area and also the most effective way of getting things done. We are most grateful to Sabi Sabi's commitment to our charity.

2007 has been a great year for our charity. Our June 15 golf fundraiser in Victoria raised over 30 000.00, thanks to Lynn Orser and her volunteers for the dedication and hard work to make this the success it was. TOPAC's golf tournament in Toronto raised over 7000.00 and a big thank you to Mrs. Edith Baxter, Editor in Chief, Canadian Travel Press, Firdosh & Chisty Bulsara and their volunteers.

2008
The new school year began on Jan 14 and the current enrollment is now 158 children. Needless to say, the school is operating over capacity at the moment as it was originally built for 120 children. Two new classrooms will need to be built if this enrollment remains high. Our food budget has gone up considerably due to the increase in numbers of children as well as the increase in cost of food. Our monthly budget for the food program has gone up to approximately 625.00

As of April, the province of Mpumalanga has now officially registered our school and in the future this should be a benefit to the teachers by providing curriculum assistance and on occasion some subsidies. At the moment it's a bit vague, but all indications are that it will benefit the school in the long run.

Our septic problems have now been fixed and what was originally thought to be a very expensive problem turned out to only cost about 1700.00, thanks to Sabi Sabi donating as much equipment as possible. French drains were installed and everything is working properly now.

The school year ended Nov 21 and we are saying goodbye to about 60 kids that will be attending Grade 1 at the local public school. Sadly, the public school has always been overcrowded and lacked even the basics. This year, thanks to Joan Firkins, Rotary International District 5020 Governor, and the local Sabi Rotary Club, the public school now has electricity and running water. Funds were provided from Joan's District with matching grants from Rotary International. We are most grateful, as this was not an easy feat for Joan and the Sabi Rotary Club to accomplish.

We are anticipating a huge enrollment for January and need to move quickly to expand the school. We are planning on extending the fence line so that we can build 2 more classrooms. Peter Mabila of Sabi Sabi is in the process of getting the quotes, as we want to start this as quick as possible.

The year ended on a very sad note for all of us. We are mourning the passing of our dear friend and much loved teacher, Elizabeth Mdaka. We met Elizabeth on our first visit to Lillydale B some 10 years ago. No matter what was going on in her life, she always had a big smile and hug when we would arrive at the school. Elizabeth was a wonderful mother to her 3 children and everyone that knew her will miss her. The memorial was held at the school on Dec 31. This is such a sad way to end what otherwise had been such a great year for Mazinyane Preschool

Marianne Schaubeck

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