EDUTAINERS ARRIVE

The 25th of March 2009 will always be a red-letter day for the Masakhane community. This is the day on which this settlement received two containers from ABI and the Bright Kid foundation.


Two huge trucks brought the brightly coloured edutainers into the settlement and to the astonishment of onlookers proceeded to lift each container and place it on the foundations which have been put in place earlier this month.
Thanks to the patient advice of Nicolas Jaff, some difficulties in manouvering the two large objects in the limited space available was overcome.

Monica Narsee from ABI was present to share in the exitement and handed over the keys to Beauty Kubu and Standford Sambo - two young people from the community.
THese edutainers mark the beginning of a new era for Masakhane. At last pre-school children will be able to attend and be exposed to stimulating activities in preparation for their school careers. Adults will also have the opportunity to attend Education and training projects such as the SABMiller Life Skills modules which are currently being implemented in Masakhane.
An official launch of the Edutainers will be held later in the month when the ABI Regional division will attend. The edutainers will however be put to use immidiately. A parents meeting has already been held to prioritise logistical issues such as food gardens, possible teachers etc. These issues will be dealt with under the new blogs.

After the edutainers had been opened, members of the community streamed inside to have a look. The amazement on the faces of the children when they saw the brightly coloured plastic tables and chairs and boxes of educational toys was a picture to behold. Several small children promptly sat down at some of the tables and looked arround in anticipation. A little girl named Phalesa asked one of the development workers from Village power when she was going to get her books and pens. Mothers expressed their gratitude for this wonderful gift by singing and clapping hands. Village Power CDP and the Masakhane community would once again like to thank ABI and the Bright Kid foundation for this wonderfull tool for developing the full potential of this community.


This event is also the catalyst for the expansion of this blog. In future friends of the Masakhane Porject will be able to follow the educational progress at Masakhane at two blogs linked to this one. The titles of the new blogs will be 'Children at Masakhane' and Adult Development at Masakhane' Issues of a general nature will still be posted on this blog, which will act as Home Page.