Start a Preschool for 60 Children in South Africa

#GivingTueday is a global celebration of giving that harnesses the potential of social media and collaboration, as well as the generosity of people around the world, to bring about real change. #GivingTuesday brings together the collective power of diverse groups of individuals, communities, and organizations to celebrate and encourage giving and to amplify small acts of kindness. As a global movement, #GivingTuesday unites countries around the world by sharing our capacity to care for and empower one another.

This Tuesday, November 27, #GivingTuesday 2018, Global Giving is partnering with projects on their site, like Thembanahti. All donations to Thembanathi will be eligible for a share of the $150,000 incentive fund being awarded by Global Giving. The incentive will be distributed proportionally based on the total funds raised by participants.

We at Thembanathi believe every child deserves a healthy start and a bright future. We are grateful that with your support this year over 75 children, like the children featured below, had the opportunity to learn and play and to enjoy two nutritious meals a day. We need your help to continue the amazing work of Siyabonga in the upcoming year. Please remember Thembanathi this #GivingTuesday with your donation. 

Here are the stories of just four of the children’s lives that were changed because of you:

Ongeziwe is 3 years old. She is very intelligent and excels in all areas at school  – numbers, reading, and rhymes. She plays well with other students and is very caring towards them. She would like to be a doctor when she grows up.  Ongeziwe was living with her father and aunt until earlier in the year when her father committed suicide. She was very close to her father and struggled with the loss for some time. The staff at Siyabonga tried their best to help her come to terms with his death and heal.

Aphiwe started at Siyabonga two years ago when he was 2 years old. He adores school and is always present. He is very intelligent and has a good memory. He enjoys leading activities in class and assisting others. In the picture, he is acting in a drama, playing the role of a Zulu man. Aphiwe wants to be a Police Officer when he grows up. Aphiwe lives with his mother, grandmother, and uncle. No one in the family is working, so they depend on social grants for their survival.

Nhlonipho, who is 4 years old, is active, creative, and very talented in a lot of school activities. Here he is teaching other students about the meaning of different colors in the South African flag. He wants to be a Police Officer when he grows up. Nhlonipho is living with his grandmother while his mother is studying at a college in Durban. His father is unemployed except for occasional odd jobs. The family is struggling financially and depends on social grants in order to put food on the table. They are thankful that Nhlonipho gets breakfast and lunch at Siyabonga.

Fundiswa is 4 years old. She is a brilliant girl and does very well in all her lessons. She grasps things easily and has a good memory. She likes school and is eager to go to primary school next year and wear a uniform. She would like to be a nurse when she grows up. She lives with her mother, father, and a younger brother. Her father works as a police officer.

Thank you for joining with others around the world who are participating in #GivingTuesday by giving to Thembanathi on Tuesday, November 27. You will be making a real difference in the lives of the children we serve.

This month is the 15^th anniversary of Thembanathi. Many of you know our story. It started when our founder, Lindsey Reynolds, visited South Africa for the first time in 2003. While there she and a fellow student from Wesleyan University visited Holy Cross, an NGO that was providing hospice and other services to families in the area. Holy Cross also had a small childcare center to provide more intensive early education and intervention services for children in the area. The center was operating then  in an old single-car garage. Upon returning to the U.S., Lindsey and Angela started Thembanathi to support the center. In 2004, Holy Cross was able to expand their programming and open a large early childhood development center that can accommodate up to 120 children. We were fortunate to be there to help them set up the new center. For the last 15 years, we have supported the early childhood programs at Holy Cross, first at the main center and, starting in 2006, at three additional small centers in more remote areas.

In 2011, Lindsey was doing research for her dissertation a couple of hours north of Holy Cross. She was approached by community leaders who asked for her assistance in starting an early childhood development and care center in their area. They understood the importance of education for their children’s future and knew that early educational support is crucial for children and families, but they lacked the resources and networks to get such an initiative going. In 2012, with support from many of you, we provided the funds to open a temporary center. Over the next two years, we raised the fund to construct a new building and, in January 2014, we opened Siyabonga Early Childhood Development Centre. The center is currently at capacity and provides 80 children each year with a positive, caring, and safe space to learn and develop, and with two nutritious meals a day. Early intervention is key to helping young people succeed in school and enabling them to transcend the cycle of chronic poverty that has shaped their communities.

Thanks to all of you for your support over the years and for helping so many children from challenging backgrounds reach the bright futures they deserve. 

Update from Siyabonga

Last month, we were able to take the children on a field trip to a cheese farm.  The children were really excited to see the animals there, many of which they had read about but never actually seen before - horses, ostriches, goats, cows, pigs, and peacocks. They also got to see how to milk a cow and how cheese is made. They were given the opportunity to feed the animals and play on the jungle gym. They really enjoyed everything and talked about it long afterwards both at home and at school.