One School for South Africa

  The trip of a lifetime was a huge success.  My daughters were able to see the most beautiful places in the country, as well as give back to children and the elderly during our 18 days in South Africa.  It was a great opportunity for them to see how diverse the country is, and how we are not as different as we think.
 
The last few days of our trip were spent in my Peace Corps village of Moime in the northern part of South Africa, known as Limpopo.  This is a very rural area, far from the airports and famous coastal cities.

I was hopeful after visiting schools and seeing the modernization that had taken place throughout the country that there would be some positive changes in my village.  It has been over 20 years since the end of apartheid and the birth of the most democratic constitution of our time, I was positive that there would be many new things to see.

I was shocked to see the conditions of the schools in the village to be the same, if not worse than when I left
seventeen years ago. Any school will deteriorate with time but what I saw was truly heartbreaking.  The classrooms had broken windows, limited seating, missing desks, no boards for displaying work, plain brick walls, old, unusable chalkboards. 

Seventeen years ago, I went into the Peace Corps because I vowed that I could and would teach for free.  My experience was suppose to keep me grounded and remind me that no matter what, children could learn.  But seventeen years later, it brakes my heart that inspite of the human desire to learn, sometimes it takes more than just desire.  The poor children of Moime, are already living under such poor conditions, the least they should have is a place to learn with dignity.

When I went to see my host family, I was sad to hear that Mrs. Makke's temporary preschool building had been taken away and that she had been unable to build the preschool needed in the village.  I found her caring for 30 children ages 1-5 in her home, primarily in the garage left by her late husband. 

Visiting Mrs. Makke after seeing the state of the schools in Moime was depressing.  The poor babies, their chances of getting out is slim to none. 

The good news was that the village had granted Mrs. Makke the land to build a school.  And a first grade teachers who just retired was planning on helping Mrs. Makke with her preschool.    

That is when I knew that I had to do something.  I spent some time talking to my two retired principals, and they agreed to help Mrs. Makke with the plans to build the preschool.  And that is when my new project began to take shape.

One school at a time, starting with the preschool for Moime.  Please help me raise the money for this one preschool.  I know there are hundreds, if not thousands of schools needed in Africa, but for now I need your help in building this one school, lets give the children of Moime a chance to receive a much needed headstart, and a chance for a better future.

"It always seems impossible until it's done." N. Mandela