| Matjana Preschool Newsletter - Nov2010 |
Members of Matjana Preschool’s committee and the Ndabeni community whose
children attend the school, have been busy building a new classroom. Apart from
the labours of one qualified builder, all the work is being done on a voluntary
basis, by members of the community.
MATJANA PRESCHOOL NEWLETTERVOLUME 4, EDITION 3, NOVEMBER 2010Matjana is a not-for-profit, community preschool in rural Swaziland NEWSLETTER WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY MICHELLE BREAR MILE’ FOR MATJANA PRESCHOOL?Members of Matjana Preschool’s committee and the Ndabeni community whose children attend the school, have been busy building a new classroom. Apart from the labours of one qualified builder, all the work is being done on a voluntary basis, by members of the community. I spoke to some of those who’ve ‘gone the extra mile’ on the building project about why they’d volunteered their time and energy and what the experience had been like. Ncobile Mbonane, Matjana Preschool’s head teacher has been co-ordinating the building project on a voluntary basis (she’s paid to teach but doesn’t receive overtime for her extra curricula contributions). I asked her why? “We’ve wanted a new classroom for the school ever since we started. The one we’ve got, it’s too small, especially now, because we’re also using it to store the cement and other things for the building. Sometimes it makes teaching difficult because there’s not enough room. And it’s cold in winter because the wind gets in through the grass roof. I’m really excited about having a bigger classroom to teach in, so I’m happy to help out with the building.” “Because I’m at school anyway and am used to recording school purchases, I can do that for the building expenses as well as the school’s day to day expenses.” So what’s it been like coordinating the building of the new classroom? “I was a bit scared at first that I would loose the money or receipts because there are so many to keep track of, but it’s been fine. I like it. |