Update on the Lorraine Poswa Mzimkhulu Preschool

With the assistance of the Masikhule Project, the school is now registered with the South African Department of Social Development as a not-for-profit organisation. This is a major development and means that the school can apply for funding for specific needs locally.

A representative of the Mayor of Libode visited the school at the beginning of February 2011, and assured the school that they will provide funding for outdoor games by the end of February 2011. They also discussed the feeding scheme, and agreed to look into how the local authority can assist. These important developments mean that 1 Pump Court can focus on our objective of raising funds to enlarge the school building and support the infrastructure of the school.

Readers may recall that almost a year ago 1 Pump Court funded the purchase of a pre-fab classroom because of the big increase in the number of pupils attending the school, to enable them to manage until the main building can be enlarged. Recently 1 Pump Court has funded furniture for the pre-fab building, including tables and chairs for the children and office furniture for the staff. We are pleased to say that the new furniture has been delivered (from Makro in Durban) and installed. Many thanks to Slulami Poswa who collected and delivered the furniture.

 Over two years ago 1 Pump Court funded the installation of electrical supply equipment at the school. Since then, there have been major problems in getting Eskom, the electricity provider, to connect up the electricity supply. We are pleased to report that Eskom finally undertook the work to connect the electricity supply in the middle of February 2011. This means that not only will the school benefit from proper lighting and cooking facilities, but the children will be able to use the indoor septic tank toilets, instead of the outside pit latrines.

At the beginning of the year, large parts of South Africa were deluged with rain, resulting in severe flooding. Unfortunately this affected the area of Libode, and the school’s vegetable garden, which was doing extremely well and providing produce to feed the children, was entirely washed away. The school has been working hard to re-establish the garden, and has already been re-planted. It will be many months, however, before the children will gain the benefits of the crops.

We would like to thank everyone who has donated over the years to make the school a reality.