Jan /2010
The new school year began on Jan 18 with an enrollment of about 270 kids. Unfortunately, the 2 new classrooms have not been completed, so at the moment, all the kids are still in the original classrooms.

With the proceeds from the village tour offered to guest staying of Sabi Sabi, we purchased additional playground equipment at a cost of approximately CAD5000.00 We are very grateful to Sabi Sabi for including the preschool as part if their village tour.

Jun/2010
John and I have just recently returned from our annual trip to South Africa. We were in South Africa about 2 weeks before the World Cup and you could feel the energy, excitement and anticipation of hosting this big event.

Our 4 days at the school was busy, productive and always fun. We were surprised to see flowers planted in front of the school and the garden was looking much better as well. Our 2 security guards are also looking after the grounds and they are really doing a great job. Our principal, Luzile Khosa and her team all work in such harmony.

On this trip, we purchased a push lawn mower, which was a huge hit with the men. In addition we bought garden tools, uniforms for the guards and cooks, paint, cleaning supplies and a floor polisher. We also purchased a laptop for the school, which will make communication a breeze. In the past we would email Sabi Sabi and then they would print the email and bring it with them on the village tour! We can proudly say our school is now in the 21st Century!

Our best day of our visit was when we decided we wanted to bring ice cream and make ice cream cones for all the kids. It was a bit daunting; as we couldn't figure out how much ice cream you need for about 300 cones. We bought 30 litres of ice cream and every ice cream cone in the store and off we went to the school!! It was a beautiful sunny day and after lunch, all the kids were made to sit in the courtyard. We placed a table in the middle and just started scooping and delivering the cones. For most of these kids, this would have been their first taste of ice cream. After the ice cream everyone danced and sang. It really was a special day.

The 2 new classrooms were 90 percent finished and all that was left to do was install the window, and paint the interior and exterior. The contractor assured us it would be finished in August.

Sep/2010 
The 2 classrooms at Mazinyane Preschool have now been completed and 2 grades have been moved over to the new rooms. Sabi Sabi is assisting us to outfit the classrooms with blackboards and some more tables and chairs.

Nov 10/2010
With great excitement, Sunshine Preschool located in Kwazulu Natal has finally opened. This has been 4 years in the making and it feels great to know over a hundred Zulu children will be attending this 3-room school when the school year begins in mid-January. For this project we had to go with manufactured rooms, as the village is not near any building supply companies. Including construction, delivery and set up, the cost was CAD64000.00.

It still looks very bare and there is no electricity or running water, but what a huge improvement over the hot tin shack they had before. Just like Mazinyane Preschool, we will continue to make improvements as we move forward.

In November, Kathy Von Brevern, senior travel consultant with Reservations Africa, and friend Nicola Moyles traveled to South Africa and were the first visitors to the new school. The teachers and the students greeted them with much excitement.

Dec/2010
Our annual fundraiser, which was held at Royal Colwood Golf Club on Dec 09 raised CAD17000.00. Thank you to everyone for your ongoing support of our charity. We would like to thank the staff and management of Royal Colwood Golf Club for making this the success it was.  

Jan /2011 
Mazinyane Preschool started the school year with 365 children in enrollment. We are still working on furnishing the 2 new classrooms, and hope to have this completed on our next visit, which will be in May. 

With great excitement, the new Sunshine Preschool welcomed over 100 children. Local artists have brightened up the school by painting beautiful murals and a local donor gave a jungle gym to the school. 

We hope to have water and flush toilets installed very shortly. At the moment, the local community is preparing the land for the septic field. As with the classrooms, the bathrooms too are prefabricated rooms. Cost of the bathrooms/water is CAD16000.00. 

We finally have received approval from Eskom, the local utility company for electric hookup. It is our understanding this will be completed by May. Installation cost is approximately CAD2000.00. 

To date this project has cost CAD82000.00. As with Mazinyane Preschool, we intend to improve and make additions as funds become available. 

We are very grateful to Mary Pieters of KZN Wilflife who has been on the ground since day 1 and without her; we could never have completed this project. 

Aug /2011 
John and I recently returned from our annual visit to South Africa. This was a special trip as we were finally going to see the new Sunshine Preschool as well as the 2 new classrooms at Mazinyane Preschool. Our first stop was at Mazinyane, and 365 children welcomed us. Even with the 2 new classrooms, the school is crowded. Many of the children are coming from the neighbouring villages. Our principal has hired an addition staff of 8. Although we pay salaries to the "original" 9, the new staff members are funded locally. Things are running very smoothly. This was our second year in row that we made ice-cream cones for everyone at the school. 

We do have a few challenges at Mazinyane Preschool, the septic field was never designed for 400 people, so we are exploring our options. 

We would also like to have green mesh for our vegetable garden, as we would be able to have a 12-month growing period. Our local contractor is preparing a quote. 

After our visit to Lillydale B, we headed off to the province of Kwazulu Natal. The village is called Mbawana and it is near to Sodwana Bay National Park, which is about a 3-4 hour drive from the closest airport. (Richards Bay) This was only our second visit to the area, and the first visit was 5 years ago. The local Chief, the parents, the children and Mrs. Chiya, principal of Sunshine Preschool, warmly welcomed us. Officials from KZN Wildlife attended the ceremonies as well. At the moment, we have 3 classrooms and boys and girls toilets.  Although we have been approved for electricity, it was not hooked up when were we there. The local community is providing the labour for the septic field. It has been a wonderful community project and we are very grateful to Mary Pieters of KZN Wildlife for nurturing this project along. We would like to purchase 1 more prefabricated room, which would be used as a library and staff room. As funds become available, we will purchase this room.

Dec /2011 
The school year ended on Dec 02 and Mazinyane Preschool said goodbye to 75 children that were graduating and going on to Grade 1. We are anticipating at least 75 new students when the new year begins mid January for a total of about 400 children. Sunshine Preschool is anticipating a total enrollment of about 150 children. It was a wonderful year for the charity and we would like to thank all our supporters for their generous support of our charity. We are a grass roots charity that solely depends on donations to keep our projects afloat. We are very proud of the fact that no travel expenses or administration fees are paid by the charity. 100% of all donations go directly to the projects. 

Marianne Schaubeck & John Johnston