The children greatly enjoy the beach trips twice a term. They love to use the sand to write their names and numbers, draw pictures and make sculptures, as well as roll their hula hoops.
Four visitors from Germany came to see the school garden which they help sponsor. They assisted with transplanting and gathering manure on several mornings. The garden is very productive with the children currently eating spinach, carrots, peas, radishes and lettuces which they planted. The Germans are members of a choir which sings African songs back in their home city and it was a delight to have them share some of these and sing others with the children.
We gratefully received a gift of soft toys from a group of visiting Canadian students. The children enjoy using them in their creative play. Visitors from Australia, USA and South Africa also brought a CD player, CDs with songs/stories, stationery items, tooth brushes and tooth paste for which we are very grateful.
Our teachers continue to receive further training. Kholiswa, Nokubonga, Nomfuzo and Andisiwe are attending NQF Level 4 courses for a week each month. They have found of great interest the information about children’s rights, developing children’s self esteem, and how to help their physical, social and mental development.
We are hoping that assistance with funding will soon enable us to simultaneously re-open 2 pre-schools in the nearby villages. These pre-schools are fully equipped but we haven’t yet to hand sufficient money for the salaries of their two teachers. We are very excited and grateful that a Canadian donor has offered to provide one salary for a trial period of six months. If you or your friends would like to assist with this project, Transcape would be very grateful.
Recent work in the garden by Judy Hogg
I prepared the soil where the silver beet (Swiss chard or spinach) and beetroot was to be planted by adding horse / cow / pig manure from nearby land.
Pre-school children were shown how to plant beetroot seeds and did this task under supervision. I also sowed silver beet seeds next to this row. Germination was excellent so where the plants came up too close together I transplanted some into another row in a different plot.Transplanting here in a very hot climate is very difficult and the plants need to be covered for several days during the day time between 9 am and 5 pm to protect them from the sun.
My first attempt to grow spring onions, red and white onions from seed wasn’t very successful. Only about 25 spring onions come up. I re-sowed about 3 weeks later and so far it seems as if only a few more spring onions have come through. I note that the only South African company I’ve come across that packages seed with a date on it is MayFord, so I suspect a lot of seed on shop shelves maybe old. Some of the seed I have been trying has also been opened by earlier users.
The ‘after school’ children planted radishes, silver beet and cabbage seeds in a small plot with the idea that the latter two could be transplanted. The radishes come through very well but only 1 cabbage plant and 2 silver beet plants came up. I suspect the children covered their seeds too deeply. The radishes were given to the after school children once they were of eating size. It was a new vegetable for them to taste but about half of the children enjoyed them. Hopefully later they can try them sliced with lettuce and tomato from the garden in a sandwich. These children also sowed a short row of peas.
I planted a row of carrot seeds. They germinated very well, have been thinned twice and are about 30 cms high. The plants seem to cope very well with the wind from the south as their stalks are flexible. Three pre-school children and their three teachers have since planted 3 more rows of carrots in this ‘southern garden’ to keep a succession coming along. The teachers and children had never planted carrot seeds before. Each day I harvest 3 carrots from Sean’s earlier planting and prepare them as a snack for the children to eat raw. They hadn’t tasted raw carrot before but all like it very much.
Other seeds planted this week (Monday April 18th à) by the pre-school children were: parsley, Chinese cabbage, 3 rows of silver beet, lettuce –with seed collected from our own ‘gone to seed’ plants, broad beans, celery and 2 rows of green peas, while I have sown leek, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, cauliflower and dash (baby spinach). I hope the children will be able to transplant my sowings into the remaining spaces in the garden. (So far a few children have transplanted some lettuce plants.)
Weekly maintenance has included watering, adding layers to the compost heap, keeping the weeds down, transplanting self sown lettuces and tomato plants – (the latter grew out of the pig manure – his food is ex the kitchen!) – covering and uncovering newly transplanted seedlings, mulching, de-lateralling the tomato plants, staking and tying them up, gathering seeds from lettuce, fennel, beans etc. and gathering manure.
Escalating food costs, low levels of nutrition in rural areas and pressure on the environment has made MEC and Mankosi Community in general, keenly aware of the need for taking radical steps towards self sufficiency, environmental understanding and conservation and food production. We are very excited about the future of the MEC Organic Classroom Project and about starting abundant food gardens at all the preschools in our cluster once the Mdumbi garden is set up and flourishing. The hands-on learning that the children will continue to experience, will benefit them in a holistic way. Learning about nature and gardens and applying the skill to feed oneself and one’s family is a priceless life skill.
The beneficiaries
• Preschool learners The harvest of the Mdumbi Education Centre garden produce will be used for the preparation of their daily meals. They will also benefit from the Organic Classroom Project.
• Afterschool learners The learners of the Organic Classroom project will learn about organic farming and organisational skills.
• Educators They will gain training in organic farming and new teaching skills.
• Community
The key objectives of the MEC Organic Classroom Project are:
• To ensure that each child gets a healthy, nutritious, fresh meal a day • To enable young children to learn about growing food, nutrition and agriculture in a sustainable and organic way.
Initially the garden was going to be 7m x 4m enclosed by a fence. We were going to erect one large tunnel with shade cloth for walls and roof – size 6m x 3m. However, Mdumbi Backpackers generously donated a portion of their land for our use! The new garden is approximately 15m x 3m.
The garden is located behind the Mdumbi Backpackers restaurant, close to the Mdumbi Education Centre to ensure easy access by all the learners, teachers and facilitators. At the moment we are busy with the hard landscaping of the garden.
One of the first things, was to erect a proper fence to ensure that the cows, horses and goats that roam freely in our community will not be tempted by a “free lunch”. This will be covered and strengthened with shade cloth, especially to protect the garden against the raging coastal wind we experience.
We will then purchase and erect an organic hydroponic gardening tunnel to protect crops and enhance productivity.
Next steps: • Shade cloth for fence • Purchase organic hydroponic gardening tunnel • Plant seeds and seedlings • Complete organic classroom curriculum
Week 1: Cleaning space and leveling gardening area as well as creating keyhole learning bed.
Week 2 - 4: Creating composting area, starting mulching process and digging holes for wind break banana trees
Week 5: First Organic Classroom Lesson! One of our gardening experts, David Brewis, explained to the preschool learners what is currently happening, including mulching, composting and what kinds of veggies we are going to plant. It was a roaring success and the children were very excited!
Who dares to teach must never cease to learn.
John Cotton Dana
MEC preschool started today with a bang! 37 beautiful little future leaders of the world took the first step into a brighter future. The programme is run by 3 local teachers, Nolutho, Kholiswa and Nokubonga, from the Tshani Community. The attendance has been outstanding so far, as the children enjoy stimulating lessons, activities and games throughout the day.
We were also very fortunate to have had our Preschool Education Consultant and good friend Melissa Butler here twice this year to train all our teachers and to make the program even stronger and more fun with her Professional Development programme. Thanks again, Melissa! We miss you already and hope to see you soon.
Furthermore we are currently in negotiations with the Mankosi Tribal Authorities and community. They have offered to build permanent structures for the 3 other preschools part of the Mankosi Preschool Project.
One of Mankosi's sub-headmen visited the preschool to see what our children are doing, and also joined a Professional Development afternoon. It was inspiring to see how excited he is about not only the children, but their education and bright futures!
The 3 developing preschools still have a lot of obstacles to overcome, but the 9 teachers are amazing, passionate and working hard. Nolutho visits one preschool each Wednesday to train and help them. Every Tuesday she also hosts Tuesdays @ 2— a professional development session for all 12 teachers. We are now furiously fundraising for their salaries, as they are currently still volunteers.
Some other exciting news, is our new volunteers from New Zeeland, Judy and Roger Hogg. Judy has been helping out in the preschool and will be very involved in the following activities during her two year stay:
Developing our theme boxes, improving and expanding the health and life skills lessons, as well as outdoor language play, setting up the organic classroom project and hosting parent workshops.
With Judy’s help we will be able to take our preschools to the next level of excellence!
Our objectives for 2010—2012 are:
· train 12 teachers to effectively and sustainably manage 4 preschools
· develop and introduce relevant curricula and teaching methodologies
· improve access to nutrition, health and social support for 140 children
· to actively educate parents and care givers about early childhood
· to ensure long term financial sustainability for 4 preschools.
"Education is not the answer to the question. Education is the means to the answer to all questions."
William Allin
Some other exciting news, is our new volunteers from New Zeeland, Judy and Roger Hogg. Judy has been helping out in the preschool and will be very involved in the following activities during her two year stay:
Developing our theme boxes, improving and expanding the health and life skills lessons, as well as outdoor language play, setting up the organic classroom project and hosting parent workshops.
With Judy’s help we will be able to take our preschools to the next level of excellence!
Our objectives for 2010 - 2012 are:
· train 12 teachers to effectively and sustainably manage 4 preschools
· develop and introduce relevant curricula and teaching methodologies
· improve access to nutrition, health and social support for 140 children
· to actively educate parents and care givers about early childhood
· to ensure long term financial sustainability for 4 preschools.
A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.
Henry Brooks Adams
Organic Kids up ahead!
Escalating food costs, low levels of nutrition in rural areas and pressure on the environment has made MEC and Mankosi Community in general, keenly aware of taking radical steps towards self sufficiency, environmental understanding and food production. We are pleased to announce that we will be starting our Organic Classroom project in the months to come. We hope to have abundant food gardens at all the preschools in our cluster as well as at MEC. The hands-on learning that the children will experience will benefit them in holistic ways. Learning about nature and gardens and applying the skill to feed oneself and one’s family is a priceless life skill.
The key objectives are to create a school garden that will enable young children to learn about growing food, nutrition and agriculture in a sustainable and organic way.
The garden will be located next to the Mdumbi Education Centre Pre-school building to ensure easy access by all the learners, teachers and facilitators. It will be enclosed by a fence and shade-cloth to ensure that the cows, horses and goats that roam freely in our community may not be tempted by a ‘free-lunch’. It will have containers/beds and will follow the principles of crop rotation. There will be a section dedicated for an organic compost heap. We will grow seasonal vegetables, as well as herbs, berries and fruit.
If you want to see what else the preschool has been up to, check out our video clips on www.Youtube.com (search TransCape Education).
