It was hard not to despair for the children in this part of rural South Africa when I saw the conditions under which they must try to learn and teachers must try to teach. Last Tuesday’s visit to Zamukwazi Primary School had me think back to my own privileged elementary schools days. Imagine the backless chairs, broken desks, moldy books and torn and tattered posters and handouts that we deemed appropriate only for the trash bin; now imagine that they were in better condition than many of the best resources some children have at their disposal.
My time at this primary school was organized by neighbor and friend, Ruth Credo, who is the Secretary and Treasurer of Kamberg Valley Rural Community Upliftment (Kamvarcu), the social responsibility arm of the Kamberg Valley Association (the community in which our farm is located in South Africa).
I blinked a lot through the tour of the school and averted my eyes often. I didn’t want my companions,
nor especially those who welcomed us, to see some of the emotions surely evident in my eyes – sadness, anger, indignation, despair.
But, upon reflection, I realize that despair is the easy road. Nosipho, the relatively new principal of Zamukwazi Primary School, maintains a hope and positive vision that cut through the darkness. Ruth and Kamvarcu had previously collected donations of paint to whitewash the mottled gray walls, and carpet squares to soften the cold, harshness of the concrete slab floors of one of the classrooms. Nosipho proudly showed off the result of the hard work of her staff and volunteers in painting and positioning the multi-colored squares into attractive patterns.
Current School Kitchen - a pit with collected kindling
However, there’s still much to be done. The priority projects for Kamvarcu are Zamukwazi Primary’s library and kitchen. Donations of books and materials for shelves are being sought for the library, and while the state provides food products for lunch for the children, there are not enough resources for a kitchen. A makeshift “stove” – a pit in the back of the school – serves as the “kitchen.” The goal is to build and equip a small brick kitchen similar to one from Kamvarcu’s flagship project last year at eMankhonjane Primary School.
At Ruth’s suggestion, Nils and I decided to donate a series of Dr. Seuss books for the library. (I must admit, it makes me smile to imagine the Zamukwazi children enjoying some of my personal favorites like “One Fish, Two Fish …” and “Green Eggs and Ham”) Additionally, we’ve pledged monies to cover materials for a new, secured door for the library.
If you live in South Africa and are interested in donating to Zamukwazi School, please contact us directly and we will send you information on how to make a tax deductible contribution. Books for the library, kitchen utensils and equipment as well as monetary donations are all welcome.
Contributors from outside of South Africa may also contact us directly. Tax deductibility is not yet possible, but we will help to work out a way to ensure your contribution goes to the right place, to the right people, for those who really need it. And we’ll arrange for letters of proof of receipt by the school.
We’ll post more news as these projects progress.
I definitely have books to send, including some nice science ones. Don’t care about the tax part. Just provide any mailing guidance and an address. Flat rate international priority mail isn’t inexpensive but you can send up to 70 lbs for a base price, as long as it all fits in the USPS-provided boxes. I did a rough calculation, to see whether mailing costs outweighed the value of the books and they did not, which mitigated in favor of sending the books. Keep us posted, please!
Thanks in advance, Ricki, for your book donation. And, thanks for doing the research on flat rate international priority mail — this is very good to know.
Mailing address on its way!