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