FUNIMFUNDO PRESCHOOL
The African saying “it takes a village to raise a child” is the story of how and why Food 4 Thought was established.
In the year 2002, it became quite noticeable in Stanford that there were very young IsiXhosa children wandering around the village unsupervised.
Our Chairlady, Maryanne Ward, invited a couple of ladies to coffee to discuss the situation as she had investigated the matter and put it to the ladies that there was no Xhosa preschool in Stanford.
Within a couple of weeks, we grew to a team of seven women, and we decided to just wing-it and see what we could do about the situation.
We decided that step-one would be to talk to the leaders within the Xhosa community. We then called a meeting with the leaders of the Die Kop informal settlement which is situated about 1 kilometre outside the village of Stanford.
At this meeting it was unanimously agreed upon that a Xhosa speaking preschool was necessary. It was also at this meeting that the community identified a potential building which was situated about 150 metres away from the camp, it needed love and attention but was perfect.
The leaders of the Die Kop settlement cleared the bush around the building.
In 2003, our school was opened, Funimfundo (seeking knowledge), and caters for 75 children, who live at the Die Kop informal settlement as well as the suburb of Thembelihle situated closer to the village of Stanford.
Our vision is to see healthy, happy children and communities thrive, as they are well educated, skilled and economically strengthened.
Our inspiration:
“It is our adult responsibility to give children futures worth having”
– Graca Machel Mandela
Our teachers
All three Funimfundo teachers originally hail from the Eastern Cape and under Nandipha’s guidance and discipline have flourished at Funimfundo preschool.
Principal, Nandipha Mtanyana, was born and educated in a small rural town called Cofimvaba in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Nandipha, is one of four children in her family and moved down to the Western Cape in 2002 seeking work. It was at Die Kop informal settlement where Food 4 Thought found her minding children in a shack whilst their parents went to work. Nandipha, is a natural when it comes to teaching and her teaching style is soft, gentle, and caring. Nandipha, is highly respected in our community and a much-loved teacher by her past and present learners.
Food 4 Thought currently employs 7 staff members
1 X Headmistress/Grade R teacher
2 X additional teachers
1 X cook
1 X driver
1 X bookkeeper
1 X Project Manager
A thriving vegetable garden has been planted and the school playground area has grown to accommodate the play of 75 children.
CRÈCHE REGISTRATION AND HOME-BASED CRÈCHE DEVELOPMENT
Due to the success of Funimfundo preschool, Food 4 Thought is contracted by the Western Cape Education Department to assist 27 crèches to comply with the registration process, a process that is lengthy and can end up being quite expensive as many schools are in old buildings and the registration compliance entails sound buildings, hygiene, and safety.
Food 4 Thought assists with Fundraising helping these crèches to comply as well as facilitate home-based educational visits to 68 children in the Eloxuweni Community of Pearly Beach.
We also facilitate a monthly parenting workshop to 30 parents who live on farms in the Baardskeerdersbos area.
This community has never been reached before and this programme has proved to be of great value to the mothers living on farms.
YOUTH 4 THOUGHT
The purpose of the Food 4 Thought Youth Programme is to empower youth who live in poor and under-invested communities to reach their higher potential by championing their own thoughts and ideas into reality.
The objective of this project is for the youth to gather relevant and robust information that highlights the needs and challenges within their communities and then to participate in an effective and well-defined structure within their public participation platforms and confidently input youth orientated initiatives within their local municipality programmes.
To focus on workable and sustainable initiatives
To fundraise for initiatives to be launched
To empower a team of confident individuals who can bring their initiatives to life
