Yomelelani News in brief for 2023 wrd

It is exactly 2 years since we last distributed a Yomelelani Newsletter, a reflection of the distortions to life, as we knew it, by the arrival of Coronavirus-19. During these two years, we have chronicled the impact on the school through the medium of our Facebook pages, supported by photographs where possible, of our activities. However, we are aware that many of our supporters do not have Facebook for one reason or another, preferring contact such as this circular.

In essence, the core activity of the school has not changed. In fact it has expanded its teaching activity while taking on the feeding of a sector of the local Township, Zwelihle, using the hitherto spare capacity of our kitchens. The original objective to feed 25 families has now expanded to provide 300 meals daily.

The current state of Coronavirus-19 infections and related deaths in the township continues to decrease in contrast to the adjacent retirement town and holiday resort of the adjacent Hermanus where the figures have yet to peak. It should be noted that 44% of the latter’s population (2011 Census) is over the age of 50 yrs while the equivalent figure for Zwelihle is 5%.

December 2021

Our Christmas party sponsored by ‘Spread some Sunshine’.

July 2021

Nelson Mandela Day 18th July

June 2021

Children have converted this unused land behind the school into a vegetable garden. Green is not a colour normally seen in a township.

April 2021

Although this shows only some of the 4th year with Easter Eggs, all of the 200+ children in the school received them thanks to a wonderful donation from ‘Spread Some Sunshine’, the UK Charity. Thank you!

March 2021

Yomelelani Outreach. On 15th March 2021, Ilitha Labantu, the South African Charity, with agreed use of the Yomelelani kitchen whose staff, augmented by volunteers, started cooking weekday meals for 25 destitute families. These unemployed people do not receive any State welfare benefit having failed to apply due to their inability to read or write, general ignorance of procedures etc. These are the tin shack dwellers with no furniture, living in the worst possible conditions.

December 2020

On 4th December 2020, all 43 Grade R children (6 yr olds) graduated from Yomelelani ECDC to Lukhanyo Primary School and the Head (Morris Tshabalala) was present to welcome them. All staff attended.

September 2020

A non-recurring donation has been received allowing a school fee-free period for ALL registered children from October to end 2020. Currently, only 20% of children are attending as most parents/guardians have become temporarily unemployed due to Covid-19.
This will take our children off the streets of the township, ensure they are properly fed and allow those in Grade R to fully prepare for next year’s progression to Grade 1.

April 2020

Introduction to Numicon whose selection of rectangular shapes allows easy adding and subtraction.

 

 

 

Please Donate if you can support us in 2020

Further information, photographs, and video is available on our website: www.yomelelani.co.za

Facebook is also used to contact our supporters.

Yomelelani  Trust  : Trustees – Peter Thompson, Bryan Littlewood, Roger Crowther

Yomelelani has continued to make impressive progress over the past twelve months, providing pre-school education and a creche in a township near Hermanus.

A New Initiative

The number of children in the school has increased from 150 to over 200 in January 2020. In cooperation with one of the local Primary Schools, Yomelelani is now providing Grade R education for 60 six-year old’s in two classes. After the initial three months the two teacher’s salaries are to be paid by the Primary School and Yomelelani will provide two classrooms, breakfast and lunch. The cost of meals will be covered by school fees. Corny Rode, our General Manager, has secured approval for this innovative scheme.

Building Renovation

This has been made possible by creating two new classrooms with new furniture in the rear of the over-large school hall, with a mezzanine floor above for storage. It has renovated toilets and a kitchen. Also, major repairs to the school’s roofs have been undertaken to overcome rainwater leaks.

The project cost circa R 500,000 (£28,000) was paid for by generous donations to a special fund created by friends of Yomelelani. Fittings for the kitchen were donated by the builder who carried out the work. We are so grateful for all the generous support this project has received.

Staffing

Congratulations are due to Rose Sonkwele, Yomelelani’s Principal, as she has now completed a Grade R university professional teaching Diploma which will be awarded in April 2020. This is the result of three years hard work by Distance Learning. She is teaching one of the two new classes for six year olds, together with Virginia Mbaba who has worked at Yomelelani for thirteen years and is qualified to teach at Grade R level by her Boland College Certificate.

Three other teachers are now enrolled to study for Grade R qualifications by Distance Learning at the University of North West. Their fees have been paid by Aqunion who funded the original renovations and extension of the school buildings four years ago and by Marifeed. This support is much appreciated.

We were sad to learn that Louise Vosloo, Treasurer of Yomelelani’s Management Committee has emigrated with her family to Australia. She has played an outstanding role over the last three years in ensuring that our finances are on a sound footing. We all wish her well in her new role as a management consultant. Her position on the Management Committee has been filled by Mmolawa Mokuthle who is a Certified Accountant responsible for Costing and Management Accounts at Aqunion and we welcome him aboard.

Fund Raising

Raising the money to fill the gap between government funding/fees and the running cost of Yomelelani has continued to be a struggle. We must raise approximately £45,000 per annuum via fund raising events and donations from individuals, churches, charities and corporate donors.

For example, two Bridge Days in the UK raised £4,000 in November 2019 with the possibility that they may become annual events. Very recently we received another donation from Purley Inner Wheel.

A UK charity “Spread Some Sunshine “again supported the children’s Christmas Party, Easter Eggs, and a visit to the Hermanus Whale Festival.

A representative of SPAR Corporate Services in South Africa presented a glowing report on Yomelelani after a visit. SPAR was so impressed that now they are providing all the dry goods (rice, sugar, cereals etc.) for the children’s breakfast and lunches.

The very successful “African Experience Dinner” sponsored by Dutchies Restaurant in Hermanus last year raised over £3,000.

Plans are now at an advanced stage to repeat this event on THURSDAY 20^th FEBRUARY 2020. We hope as many as possible of our supporters will join us for an enjoyable evening in support of Yomelelani.

THANK YOU, EVERYBODY, FOR YOUR CURRENT AND FUTURE SUPPORT. 

Please Donate if you can support us in 2020

Further information, photographs, and video is available on our website: www.yomelelani.co.za

Facebook is also used to contact our supporters.

Yomelelani  Trust  : Trustees – Peter Thompson, Bryan Littlewood, Roger Crowther

We’re looking good
The Early Childhood Development Centre has undergone an incredible transformation in the past seven months. With the first phase of the building project completed, the pre-school now has a brand new, redesigned, spacious wing. Included are two additional classrooms which has enabled the Centre to increase enrolment from 60 to 110 children aged two to five.

This bright, modern wing also houses a new staff room, admin office, upgraded kitchen, and lovely new bathrooms for the children. It is a first class facility, made possible thanks to a huge financial investment by the local abalone company Aqunion.

We’re growing
The second phase of the upgrade is expected to be completed in May and it includes a crèche for 22 babies aged 3 months to 24 months, the upgrading of one of the existing bathrooms, and the installation of a roof over the school’s courtyard.

In safe & caring hands
Corny Rode, General Manager of Yomelelani, and her staff, have worked extremely hard to equip and prepare the Centre for the arrival of the new children. She says the number of ECD (Early Childhood Development) teachers has jumped from three to six in the past year, and two more teaching assistants have joined the team.

Nondlaliso Sonkwele, also known as Rose, has been a teacher at Yomelelani for the past eight years. She was recently appointed as the school’s Deputy Principal and she says “We feel privileged to work in a place like this. It’s beautiful and exciting. I believe God has been good to Yomelelani”

Phumeza Tshongwana, mother of a two year old enrolled at Yomelelani says, “I am getting the best care and education for my child. The community can see that Yomelelani is growing now”.

Dear Friends,
We have been visiting Hermanus with our wives Hilary, Thelma & Jill for a number of years. Yomelelani is a community project in the township adjoining Hermanus which provides early childhood development for children from very deprived backgrounds.

At this moment Yomelelani is embarking on a very exciting development which will involve nearly doubling the number of pre-school children places to 98 and the creation of a crèche for 52 babies.

We would like to share this story with any friends we think would be interested. We hope that you will spare a little time to explore the inspiring details regarding this project in our recently launched website www.yomelelani.co.za

We plan to circulate a newsletter from time to time to keep friends up to date on progress and we hope that you will find this as interesting and worthwhile as we do.

Kind regards
Peter Thompson, Bryan Littlewood & Roger Crowther