OVERVIEW
Goal: R5,000.00 | Still Needed: R5,000.00 | Total Supporters So Far: 0 | Amount of People in Need: 35
Masakhane Community Crèche is exactly that – an institution for the community. Though it is for the children of Khopo Village in the strictest sense, in truth it exists for the community as a whole.
For the children, it is a place in which they are stimulated and encouraged to develop in their younger years; a place where they learn the ever-important communication skills they will use for the rest of their lives; a place where they are fed and kept safe.
But there’s a butterfly effect. Because the parents of these children can rest assured that their children are safe during the day, they feel freer to work, diminishing the village’s poverty levels. Because these children learn life skills from a young age by spending their formative years amongst children their own age and under the careful guidance of loving teachers, Khopo Village has a brighter future ahead.
It’s a win-win.
Masakhane was founded in 1997 by Elizabeth Jiyane because she felt the truth of that butterfly effect then, and continues to see it today. The crèche’s team of five takes care of 35 of Khopo Village’s young ones in a building built for this purpose by Elizabeth’s husband nearly 30 years ago.
These days, the building isn’t doing as well as it did in the nineties, and Masakhane’s staff feel a definite urgency to renovate or relocate. Finances aren’t allowing them to do either of these things; in fact, a quarterly grant from the government and monthly fees from parents combined isn’t even enough to pay all of the staff.
They welcome any aid that will enable them to do what they have been doing for many years now: caring for Khopo Village by developing its youngest residents.
Credits:
Photographer: Bongani Mahamba from Bongani Mahamba Photography | Voice Artist: Thando Baliso | Writer: Ané Breytenbach