|
| |
Indermark Crèche and AU Fund
South Africa
|
A Brief History of the Creche
and Student Funding
Every semester students from all over the
U.S. and abroad gather in Washington, D.C to
participate in the Washington Semester International Environment and Development
program through American University. Three weeks of this program are held in
South Africa (and neighboring countries).
In the fall of 2000 the students visited the Tswelopele crèche
(a pre-school or daycare center) in Indermark, a very poor, rural community in the Limpopo Province
of South Africa. The students decided to donate
money to this crèche, and were able to improve the children's environment by
purchasing chairs, tables and playground equipment for the crèche and paying for
the teachers training. Every year since 2000, students returned to the Indermark
community,
often meeting with and staying with Frederika. Frederika is the
chairperson of the creche, a deeply devoted and inspiring individual, and the
driving force behind the the crèche. She has essentially devoted all of
her time and energy to the 100 or so little children who come to the creche on a
daily basis. As many of my former students will attest, she is an incredible
person and a warm and caring individual with a solid grasp on administrative
issues as well. Since 2002, four or so students per year have stayed with
Frederika for their homestays in South Africa and have spent a few days at the
creche. Each group of students has returned from these experiences with a new
appreciation for the fortunate lives we have all been blessed with, and each
group has helped to motivate others to try to help out in a small way. Two former professors from the
University of Venda, Ian and Retha Gaigher, have worked with Frederika to help
administer the funds. See more details and documents
about the creche below.
Sampling of Expenditures from
Donations
- tables, chairs,
and educational toys
- 10 days
training for 2 teachers in Johannesburg
- 2 weeks
training for 2 other teachers
- cement and
tools for clearing plot for new building
|
- jungle gym
place set (see pictures)
- gas cooker and
regulator
- material for
school uniforms and sewing center
- cooking
utensils
|
|
he needs love and care
a view of the creche from outside |
|
2005
Update Over the years we (former groups of
students) have collected and donated nearly $3,000 (between $500 and $900
per year). This money is a LOT of money for such a poor community and for
helping to meet the needs of these children. As an earlier update from the
Gaighers notes: "We believe
that this [set of contributions AU students and from others] significantly
changed the lives of several hundred children." This year’s group has
collected US $640 worth of money (along with some goods for
donations to be sent). Currently, there are some other potential
private donors from South Africa and from Europe who are considering
helping out with additional funds. In fact, I just received word
(May 31, 2005), that a private corporation in the region has donated
20,000 Rand (about US$ 3,200) worth of playground equipment, furniture,
educational toys, and the like. The creche is certainly in need of
this as its enrollment has grown tremendously over the past few years, now
reaching 170 children.
Ian and Retha are working with Frederika to secure enough funds (approximately
700,000 Rand, or around US $117,000) to build a new building for the creche.
The current building
is not only quite old and in very poor shape, but the creche teachers (Frederika
and her colleagues) do not have legal rights to the building and are threatened
with possible eviction. Hopefully, larger donors will get involved and a
new building can be purchased. In the meantime, there are many immediate
needs that smaller contributions could help out with (from feeding the children,
to buying educational materials, to training more teachers, and beyond).
If you would like to help out or make a
donation, you can contact
Joe Domask or the
Gaighers
directly. You can also send me postal mail at:
Joseph Domask
Washington Semester Program
American University, Tenley Campus
4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20016
More Details and Documents about the Creche
and Our Funding Efforts
-
Click here
for the business plan (June 2004) for constructing the new creche.
-
Click here (Adobe
PDF file) for an overview of the creche and our funding efforts (from 2001).
You may also download the PowerPoint presentation
here.
-
Click here
(Adobe PDF file) for a presentation put together by former students to inform
future students and prospective donors about the project.
-
Click here for a
short guide for future students.
|
click on the thumbnails for larger
pictures
|
|
 |
2004 Update
Currently, the Gaighers are working with community members to construct a new
building for the creche. The old building is in actually owned by someone
else and the creche teachers are unable to get government assistance unless they
are in a building of their own. With recent contributions from the Spring
2004 group of students, the community was able to prepare a plot of land for the
new building and has begun to make bricks for construction. The work has
recently been put on hold due to lack of funds.
2002-2003 Update
We’ve collected a good chunk of money for the AU Fund in South Africa at
the end of our Spring 2002 semester.
The total sum for this group of students to date is: US $685
We need to find funding to resolve the current dilemma....the building may be
taken over by the government for other purposes, and the women and children may
no longer have a building to say in.
Return to Homepage
|
