Dani's New Nursery School for At-Risk Children

Dani has accomplished so much in her 2.5 years in Rwanda! The children in her home and in her care are thriving. Her community farm is up and running with animals and crops. Her YouTube channel is taking off.

But there's more...

Since she first arrived in the village of Gashora, her adopted home, Dani has dreamed of opening a nursery school for children from the most vulnerable families in the area.

At last, after so much planning and hard work, her dream has come true!

Dani, in conjuction with The Jonathan Foundation, has just opened The Gashora Family Nursery, providing free pre-school education and two nutritious meals a day, Monday through Saturday, to at-risk 3 to 5 year-olds from the community. The children also receive healthcare, uniforms, shoes, and undergarments. There are workshops for parents and care-givers as well as home wellness visits.

This is an extraordinary achievement and an extraordinary project!

Please read more about The Gashora Family Nursery - and please consider donating to this campaign to help fund the nursery through the summer.

A LIFE-CHANGING HEAD START

The Gashora Family Nursery gives hope and opportunity to the village's most vulnerable children and their families. 55 children from age 3-5 attend the nursery 6 days a week. These are children who were not in any kind of early education and would likely end up as street children, never enrolling in primary school, without this intervention. The Gashora Family Nursery will change the trajectory of the lives of these kids by preparing them for entry to primary school at age 6 and teaching their parents and caregivers skills and strategies to support their children and their education.

Classes are taught in English, not Kinyarwanda, in Rwandan schools. The Gashora Family Nursery is an English-language pre-school, which gives these kids an incredible advantage when they enter primary school. Through this nursery the children will build as solid foundation in English, literacy, numeracy, as well as being socially and emotionally prepared for primary school.

Sports and team play are part of the curriculum. Children and parents/care-givers learn about health, nutrition, and hygiene. All children receive custom-made school uniforms, undergarments, and shoes. Parents/care-givers agree to send children to nursery washed and in clean uniforms and shoes.

The teaching staff is highly qualified - all with college degrees in early childhood education and develpment. Nurse Gloria, from The Jonathan Foundation clinic at GS Dihiro, conducts weekly wellness checks to monitor physical and mental well-being of the children. She also conducts home visits.

Food is fresh, nutritious, and served in generous portions. The milk is from a cow at Dani's farm. The children eat breakfast and lunch at the nursery 6 days a week. For many of the children the food they at eat at nursery is the only food they will eat all day.

In addition to the classrooms and outdoor play space, the nursery has an outdoor kitchen and bathrooms. The children are divided into three classes by age: Apples (age 3), Bananas (age 4), and Coconuts (age 5). The Coconuts have their own classroom and materials as they are being prepared for entry to primary school.

I hope you now have a bit of an idea of what The Gashora Family Nursery is about and what a game-changing head start it gives to children who would otherwise be left behind. I was fortunate enough to be in the village for the opening of the nursery and got to know these 55 beautiful young children - all so bright and enthusiastic and sweet. They deserve the same opportunities as any other child, and the early years intervention and education at The Gashora Family Nursery can truly change the trajectory of their lives.

The aim of this campaign is to raise, as a start, $6000 to fund the nursery school through the three months of summer. Monthly operational costs are approximately $2000. This includes:

2 nutritious meals per day for 55 students and staff

cooking & cleaning supplies

education & sports supplies

electricity and water

staff salaries - teachers, cooks, cleaner, 24-hour security

Thank you so much for taking time to read about this wonderful project and, I hope, for your generous support.

Dani will be posting videos and more information about the nursery on her YouTube channel and Instagram.

YouTube: @TheGashoraFamily

Instagram: @dani_shash_