Holistic School Sponsorship for 20+ Swati Students

Our goal for this project was met three months ago and we opted to extend it to $20000 and it is currently sitting at $12 445.02, which is 62% of our goal. The national school year had to be shifted due to the pandemic and the political instability that we are still experiencing as a country. The school year that began last year is only ending in March 2022. The new school year begins on the 4^th of April 2022, which is the only time we will have the results of our beneficiaries. They are currently writing examinations. We will know how many are moving into High School from Primary School at the end of next month.

Currently, Moya is still carrying on the Schools Lunch program whereby they support partner schools with acquiring food items for the schools’ kitchen. These meals go a long way in sustaining the children as most of them do not have meals at home. Since Covid 19 began, earning a living has become an even more difficult thing to do for the people in the Community. The recent increases on basics such as bread, cooking oil and a 90% increase in Transport costs mean even more children will be needing assistance.

In conclusion, traditionally when the year begins we open scholarship applications in the community. However, we feel that due to the long breaks that schools took in the past two years live very little confidence in their academic performance. Even with the lowered pass rate, we believe that it will be beneficial for our students to repeat the year for better results, especially our Form 5s as Varsity requires that one be sufficiently prepared. We are going to speak to our Form 5s and the respective Heads of schools to ascertain whether there is a space for them to be able to repeat. The need for scholarships has definitely turned into even more of a need.

The time to update this project has come. It is the second year of Covid and in as much as we have come far in providing the vaccine, we are still behind in its roll out programme. With schools having adjusted to the online and in face hybrid learning platform, there was less anxiety over the school year. The roll out of the vaccine is now inclusive of young people from the ages of 12 to 18. The vaccination of young people has just begun in the country. We have been encouraging our beneficiaries to vaccinate. The elderly, frontline workers and teachers have been our priority in getting the jab for Covid. Teachers in schools have taken the jab, as well as organizations that are working with children. We as Moya staff have also taken the jab so to set an example for the community that we work with. Moya Centre paid all bursary fees this year as well, this was necessary as this supports the wages of ancillary staff, school meals and maintenance projects.

Most schools restarted in class learning this year which assisted in quelling the anxiety over students not retaining any information from the syllabus. The country has experienced political unrest which has resulted to the untimely closure of schools. Most schools continue to use online learning. Learners were given two mid-term breaks that accumulated to three days of rest. The schools were on the course on the third term but unfortunately political and civil unrest ensued in Eswatini in September, further delaying the school calendar. Schools had to be closed to ensure the safety of both teachers and students. This means that students hadn’t gotten a chance to write their examinations before the planned end of term in August. The schools are set to be open on the 23^rd of November 2021 which is also a tentative date.

Moya distributed about 200 school Uniform to four Primary Schools. We work close with career guidance teachers in identifying children who are needy. Moya distributed shoes, uniforms, jerseys, trousers and shirts.

We are very happy to report that this project has been able to reach its goal which was $10000, we have extended the goal to $20000. Now we are looking to Sponsor 25+ new students in 2022, which realistically puts us back at the starting point each year. There are 38 students who we are expecting to complete High School when this school year wraps up next year. We are updating the project to reflect this so as to notify our recurring donors so they can be aware of where their gracious donations are going to. As always, we thank you for your support, it goes a long way in empowering our beneficiaries.

Links:

• Our new revamped website