Tsundzukani Bright Eye's Daycare Centre
Acornoek, Mpumalanga, South Africa
The Tsundzukani Bright Eye’s Daycare Centre located in Acornoek, Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. It was founded four years ago by Ms. Xitsundzuxo Nyango also known as Remember. She is a native of the MaShangaan tribe and an outstanding South African lady of 30 years old of age with a passion and dedication to teach children, and she has been successfully administering the Centre assisted by other dedicated indigenous women. She has a college diploma in Public Management and Computer Sciences, and holds a SACE teaching certificate.
The Centre serves the community as a school for young children of working parents, charging an affordable monthly fee per each child. They provide school classes during the morning and serve a nutritious breakfast and lunch to the children before the families pick them up.
According to Ms. Nyango the Daycare Centre’s mission is to academically prepare the young children from surrounding rural communities so that they will be able to be successful in the modern world of today. In order to efficiently accomplish this task, they must be able to develop a strong foundation, thus brightening their future with various basic skills. Simultaneously they will also learn their culture, customs, history and religion. She strongly believes that indigenous rural children must get an equal education as those who live in the urban areas of the country.
The Daycare Center is an invaluable resource for a number of families in the community. Working parents are charged a very affordable monthly fee, and in return their children are provided with education and two nutritious meals throughout the day. Remember believes that the goal of the daycare centre should be to equip children with the academic skills that will prepare them for the modern world. But she also places a heavy emphasis on teaching traditional history, customs, and practices.
The Centre is also used as a venue for the community’s official meetings and events thus making it even more precious and useful to the village of Acornoek.
The Centre serves the community as a school for young children of working parents, charging an affordable monthly fee per each child. They provide school classes during the morning and serve a nutritious breakfast and lunch to the children before the families pick them up.
According to Ms. Nyango the Daycare Centre’s mission is to academically prepare the young children from surrounding rural communities so that they will be able to be successful in the modern world of today. In order to efficiently accomplish this task, they must be able to develop a strong foundation, thus brightening their future with various basic skills. Simultaneously they will also learn their culture, customs, history and religion. She strongly believes that indigenous rural children must get an equal education as those who live in the urban areas of the country.
The Daycare Center is an invaluable resource for a number of families in the community. Working parents are charged a very affordable monthly fee, and in return their children are provided with education and two nutritious meals throughout the day. Remember believes that the goal of the daycare centre should be to equip children with the academic skills that will prepare them for the modern world. But she also places a heavy emphasis on teaching traditional history, customs, and practices.
The Centre is also used as a venue for the community’s official meetings and events thus making it even more precious and useful to the village of Acornoek.
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Here is a quick rundown of the various improvements Plenty Canada is planning to make to the Daycare Centre:
Creating a rainwater storage system — Though the children are given nutritious meals each day, currently the centre does not have any running water, something many of us take for granted. With the installation of a storage system for rainwater, the center will gain access to a consistent source of water for cooking, washing, and irrigation. Any excess water will be purified and given to the children to be used as additional drinking water. We anticipate that the installation of this system will have an incalculably large effect on the daily lives of the children and the instructors, allowing them to focus on their bright futures rather than their daily needs.
Growing a vegetable garden — Already, a space has been established on the Daycare Centre's property for a vegetable garden. Keeping sustainability in mind, water from the previously mentioned rainwater storage system will be used to irrigate the garden. We will also fund the installation of a fence around the garden, which will ensure that all of the products are protected from animals year-round. By respecting the knowledge of the instructors and volunteers in the local area, we aim to create a sustainable space for the growing of local herbs that will both supplement the diet of the children and be utilized as traditional medicine.
Purchasing traditional mats — Beyond the basic necessities such as food, water, and education, we would like to create a comfortable space for the rural children of Acornoek to also appreciate and learn traditional skills. As of right now, the Daycare Centre's cold cement floors are completely unfurnished. This can obviously be quite uncomfortable for the children, especially when they choose to nap between classes. In response, we will purchase mats to line the floors. Rather than buying commercial flooring, however, we will purchase traditional grass mats from Ms. Chester Mathebula, a local Indigenous woman from the Pedi tribe. Given that the weaving of grass mats is a local practice, once the mats have been purchased, she will hold a live matt-making demonstration at the centre. The children will be introduced to their traditional arts while they receive objects of material comfort that again, will enable them to focus on their learning.
Completing sanitation facilities — Finally, with your generous support, we will provide the necessary funds to complete the double-unit toilet that has begun construction on the Daycare Centre grounds. The work has halted due to a lack of funds, but with your help we will be able to successfully purchase the required building materials, including doors, windows, and cement.
Creating a rainwater storage system — Though the children are given nutritious meals each day, currently the centre does not have any running water, something many of us take for granted. With the installation of a storage system for rainwater, the center will gain access to a consistent source of water for cooking, washing, and irrigation. Any excess water will be purified and given to the children to be used as additional drinking water. We anticipate that the installation of this system will have an incalculably large effect on the daily lives of the children and the instructors, allowing them to focus on their bright futures rather than their daily needs.
Growing a vegetable garden — Already, a space has been established on the Daycare Centre's property for a vegetable garden. Keeping sustainability in mind, water from the previously mentioned rainwater storage system will be used to irrigate the garden. We will also fund the installation of a fence around the garden, which will ensure that all of the products are protected from animals year-round. By respecting the knowledge of the instructors and volunteers in the local area, we aim to create a sustainable space for the growing of local herbs that will both supplement the diet of the children and be utilized as traditional medicine.
Purchasing traditional mats — Beyond the basic necessities such as food, water, and education, we would like to create a comfortable space for the rural children of Acornoek to also appreciate and learn traditional skills. As of right now, the Daycare Centre's cold cement floors are completely unfurnished. This can obviously be quite uncomfortable for the children, especially when they choose to nap between classes. In response, we will purchase mats to line the floors. Rather than buying commercial flooring, however, we will purchase traditional grass mats from Ms. Chester Mathebula, a local Indigenous woman from the Pedi tribe. Given that the weaving of grass mats is a local practice, once the mats have been purchased, she will hold a live matt-making demonstration at the centre. The children will be introduced to their traditional arts while they receive objects of material comfort that again, will enable them to focus on their learning.
Completing sanitation facilities — Finally, with your generous support, we will provide the necessary funds to complete the double-unit toilet that has begun construction on the Daycare Centre grounds. The work has halted due to a lack of funds, but with your help we will be able to successfully purchase the required building materials, including doors, windows, and cement.
It’s important for Plenty Canada to remain active in southern Africa. Years of hard and effective work in the countries of Lesotho, Botswana, Zambia, Swaziland, and South Africa have informed Plenty Canada’s organizational background, experience, and values.
