BUSINESS
PLAN AND REQUEST FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
TSWELOPELO
DAY CARE CENTRE
1.
Introduction and historical background:
The
The Tswelopele Cooperative was initiated in 1999 by a group of
14 women from this village in an effort to break the cycle of chronic poverty
in which they subsided. The objective
was to become involved in a number of income generating activities. The day
care centre was started to accommodate the children of women involved in the
project, but soon attracted children from the wider community. Over the years
the day care center became the main activity of the group. Due to the low per capita income of the
community, the fees have to be kept low and is barely
sufficient to provide meals for the children. The center is not subsidized by
government because the present building does not comply to
the basic requirements. Since 2000 the Centre has been financially supported by
staff and students of the
2. Problem statement:
The Day Care Center is
presently housed in two rooms of a dilapidated old farm house belonging to a
private person. A few months ago the
Centre was informed that it has to evacuate the building. This has created a
crisis situation as no other form of accommodation is available. Requests to
government officials, NGO’s and private business have been unsuccessful. The main problem is that the S.A government
is inundated with requests for funding of pre-schools and day care centres and they either do not have the funding or are not
able to process the requests administratively.
Even the house that they are
occupying now has no electricity or running water, most windows are missing,
toilets are crude and somewhat unsafe ‘longdrops’ and
the whole building is in a general state of decay. Cooking for the children is
done on an open fire with very basic facilities.
The best solution for solving
the problem is to obtain funding for building a new centre. The local council has donated a stand for the
project. It is conveniently situated for the installation of electricity and
water.
3.
Business plan
3.1 Name
Tswelopelo Day Care Centre
3.2
Objectives
·
To
provide cheap and efficient day care to children of poor families and to
AIDS orphans of the Indermark community.
·
To
train woman as day care teachers
·
To
develop self esteem and environmental awareness through the creation of a safe
and environmental friendly pre-school learning environment.
·
To
establish a vegetable garden as a source of nutrition for the children and to
provide basic training in vegetable production.
·
To
link up with and involve academic institutions and volunteer organisations both in
·
To
provide an income for community members that are directly involved in the
Centre
3.3
Business description
In
the past four years Tselopelo has provided day care
to several hundred pre-scool children from an impoverished
community without any government assistance. It has also provided training and
a limited form of income to several unemployed people. Contact with academics
has boosted the self esteem of the children and this, together with better
training of teachers and availability of educational material, has given them a
very important start in their academic careers.
In
future the activities of this Centre will be restricted to day care. In order
to improve the efficiency of the Centre, the following goals will be pursued:
·
Establishment
of a proper learning and care environment. This will include the erection of a
fence, the construction of a new building, the provision of a safe and creative
play ground and the provision of educational toys and learning aids.
·
Further
training of teachers
·
The
establishment of a vegetable garden to provide a nutritional diet.
·
Strengthening
of the link with
The day to day
running of the Center will be administered by the Head and full time staff
members. A Board will be established to oversee the activities of the Centre.
The Board will consist of the Head of the Centre and one additional staff
member, two representatives of the parents, a representative of the Department
of Education and a representative of funding or assisting organizations. The
board will meet four times per year.
A record will
be kept of all income and expenditure and this will be audited once a year. All
funders will receive a copy of the audited financial report.
2.
Funding needs
The Centre can
operate with the fees paid by parents and quality is maintained through linkage
with
A map of the
new building is attached.
The funding
required for material and labour is roughly as
follows:
1. Roofing
material (IBR) R12
000
2. Support
beams for the roof R 5 000
3. Doors R 2 000
4. Door frames R 1 000
5. Window
frames R 4 000
6. Door
handles R 6 000
7. Lintels R 600
8. Toilets R 1 000
9. Basins R 1 000
10. Zink R 1 200
11. Other
Plumbing R 6 000
12. Sement and sand R
10 000
13 Bricks R
10 000
15 Labour R
20 000
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TOTAL R
79 800 ($13,000)
Donors are sought to cover all
or part of this cost. Donors will be acknowledged with signs at the building.
They will also receive annual financial statements and reports on the
development of the preschool.
Potential donors should
contact Dr Retha Gaigher at
the following:
Tel./fax:
0155930352
Cell: 0833087027
E-mail: Lajumalodge@yahoo.com
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