Bonnie People

Day Care Centre

The Day care centre offers the working mothers (often single income) an opportunity to go off to work early in the morning and return late in the afternoon, leaving their little ones in our care. Some children are left with Tembisa, one of our employers, from 6 o'clock onwards in her little shack. She then brings the children to us at 9 o'clock, where they get fed and taken care off by Elsie and Vivian in the Nursery. At 3 o'clock, Tembisa takes the children back to the settlement and looks after them from her little humble home until their mothers fetch them at around 6 o'clock.

The day care facility consists of three separate units, nursery, kindergarden and youth facility, each with their own space.

The NURSERY accommodates between 12-20 very young (0-3 years) children and is run by Elsie and Vivian, both untrained mothers who are currently undergoing in house training . In the Nursery the little ones are kept clean as far as possible, as we do not have running hot water and must heat water on the gas stove. The young ones need nappies changed and help with feeding.

All these tasks are executed efficiently, while the children also learn basic skills and most of all are experiencing an immensely loving and caring environment. They play in the sandpit or ride on scooters while others climb the tree or play on the swings.

In the KINDERGARDEN we have a group of children (up to 20) who range from 3-7 years. Depending on the amount of children attending, we either split this group up into two (if more than 10/12) or work with them together. Our main teacher, Zizipho Pama, is currently attending distance training in Cape Town to become a Kindergarden teacher. She shares her learning with the other women and gives advice where she can. Zizipho lives on a farm nearby and commutes to the project daily, walking at least 5-6 km per day.

The children in the Kindergarden start their day with breakfast followed by circle time, when Zizipho tells a story and they sing and dance. Then they go on to creative activities like clay modelling, drawing, painting etc. Before lunch they play outside in the sandpit or on our collapsed tree that serves as a jungle gym. After lunch the children rest and are taken back home at 3 o'clock.