Home: Freunde Waldorf

South Africa: Zenzeleni Waldorf School Khayelitsha

 

Help to fix the roof and to paint the buildings of the Zenzeleni Waldorf School

Many of the 248 children of the Zenzeleni Waldorf School face challenges at home and in their communities, and they experience their school as a safe and nurturing place where they can grow and thrive. They are proud to be attending Zenzeleni Waldorf School. We want them to see this pride in how their school looks and is cared for - we do not want them to be trying to learn in their classrooms with buckets of water dripping from leaks in the old and broken roof and in a school with peeling, cracking, fading paint on the walls.

Fixing the roof and giving the walls a fresh coat of paint will help stop more damage to the ceilings and walls and will improve the atmosphere of the school and the lived experience of the children.

Staff, parents and children have recently seen how upgrading a part of the school brought a new energy to the school. Over the past year Hlubi, the school’s caretaker, and the teachers have focussed on upgrading the garden at the school and for the first time they had their very own sunflowers growing in the garden. The children were so happy to see these flowers in new spaces and found it interesting to study their growth. This new work in the grounds has transformed the garden and joy and a new curiosity has been lit up in the children. This led to all teachers and parents working together on a beautiful vegetable garden. This has been hard work because the ground in the area is similar to sea sand so getting plants to grow and do well is not easy. But the school community keeps trying.

Painting the school and fixing the roof will be another step towards ongoing improvements, increasing the value of the learning experience at the school. When the school is cared for and in good condition, it lifts the spirits of the children and the teachers and makes everyone able to work better, and to behave in a more consciously caring way with each other.

The parents as well as the staff are willing to offer their time for the repairs but the school urgently needs financial support to fix the school roof and paint the school. They need to buy tools, materials for the roof repair, and paint for the inside and outside of the school. For the material and tools like paint brushes, scaffolding, ladders and a set of basic tools like a drill, hammer, screwdrivers etc. the school needs 500 euros. For the painting of the outside of the building, they need about 2,000 euros and for painting the inside of all classrooms, the need about 1,000 euros. Fixing the roof will be the most expensive (but also very important) part of the renovation. For this they estimate costs in height of 5,000 euros.

All in all, the school needs about 8,500 euros to renovate the school so that the children can learn in a welcoming atmosphere.                                 

“All at Zenzeleni Waldorf School, children, teachers, parents and grandparents, would really appreciate your support. By supporting our school maintenance project of fixing the roof and painting the school you will be making a positive impact on the lives of all our children.”

 

About the Project:

Zenzeleni Waldorf School is a primary school in Khayelitsha, the biggest township in the Western Cape area of South Africa. Currently the school has 248 children from kindergarten to class 7 and 22 staff members. The parents and grandparents of the children want their children to have exactly the kind of education offered at Zenzeleni Waldorf School because the children are taught in such a different way compared to how children at many other schools are taught. Here the children really enjoy being at school.

As mentioned before, many of the children face challenges at home and in their communities. The government’s efforts to improve the living conditions in Khayelitsha have not yet reached all of the people living there. Running water and electricity are supplied, but there are still areas which do not have these basic services. In addition to the poverty experienced by many, illnesses such as TB and HIV AIDS, gangsterism, crime, violence, physical, sexual and emotional abuse are some of the serious problems in the township. Daily repeat trauma and transgenerational trauma has a negative effect on the community.

Although the school receives some money from the government, more money is needed to run the school as the money from the government does not cover maintenance costs. The teachers and the parents do what they can to keep the school in a good condition. School fees are 20 euros each month which is. The parents are expected to pay at least a portion towards the fees, the government provides 40% towards the costs and the rest has to be raised by approaching local and global donors who are able and willing to support the valuable education provided by the school. Even if it seems to be a rather small monthly fee, many families struggle to pay the fees and even more so now than before after the declared covid 19 pandemic when many lost their jobs. For most of the families, 20 euros is about 10 percent of the money they have for the month. The parents pay what they can but it does not cover what it costs to run the school and to teach the children - this difference is covered by donations by kind individuals.  

The school was founded in 1999 in Khayelitsha (one of the biggest townships in Cape Town) out of a wish of parents of the community whose children had been cared for and taught by a kindergarten teacher who had completed her training through the Centre for Creative Education, a Waldorf teacher-training college. With the help of the Principal of the kindergarten, Mavis Mbaba, who was and still is active in the community, and through the support of the Centre for Creative Education, the property opposite the kindergarten, Noluthando Day Care Centre, was bought and Zenzeleni Waldorf School grew by a class each year with the support of the community surrounding it. 

“The word ‘Zenzeleni’ means ‘do it yourself’ - to get the education the parents wanted for their children they had to take the initiative and make it happen.”

Empower & donate now
Empower & donate now