Matjana Community Preschool
Kaphunga Swaziland
Matjana is a not-for-profit, community preschool in rural Swaziland
Location
Matjana Preschool is located in Ndabeni, kaPhunga, a rual area of Swaziland. The school and most of the surrounding area does not have access to electricity or running water.
History
Matjana Preschool opened on February 6, 2007 in the
Ndabeni area of kaPhunga, rural Swaziland. Established
by a group of volunteers without any organizational
assistance, Matjana became the first preschool in
the area. Since then with the support of International donors it has grown from strength to strength.
Matjana is a community school, which means a community committee is elected (made up of volunteers and parents) to govern the School. They are responsible for the decision making on how the school is run. This includes what uniforms should be worn, the school fees ,school operating hours and enrolment numbers.
The school's application to be registered with the Swazi Ministry of Education was approved on June 18th 2007 and we have since opened a bank account.
In 2007, 19 children attended Matjana Preschool and one local woman was employed as the preschool
teacher (working with an Australian volunteer teacher).
In 2008 newly purchased furniture has allowed us to
increase the class size and we now have a class of 22
students. We also employed a second local
teacher in 2008. We hope to build a new classroom at some point in
the future (first we need to raise money) so that we can
accept up to thirty students per year and increase the
salaries of the two local teachers.
Aims
Matjana Preschool primarily aims to provide affordable early childhood education to children in the Ndabeni area of Kaphunga. In addition it aims to provide employment and skills development opportunities for members of the local community.
Support
Without your support we would close!
On behalf of the people of kaPhunga, the staff and parents of the Matjana PrePrimary school family and especially the Kids I would like to say a big thank you (that’s Siyabonga kakhulu in siSwati) to all those that have donated money, material or energy to our project so far.
Your donations have placed the children of kaPhunga on the road to a better life!.
If you haven’t had a chance help out yet, it’s not too late. To find out how you can help please visit our Fund Raising page and become a sponsor. Every little helps!
