Approaching 2010
Urgent AppealAs South Africa gears up to host the world cup, Sisonke School faces a complete relocation of their school after being given notice to leave from their current location.
As the school is unable to afford to buy their own piece of land they have gone with the option of using a rented plot in a secluded corner of the town. The initial idea was to obtain pre-fabricated buildings to use as classrooms, but due to the enormous costs involved this idea was not viable.
Many months were spent applying for funding to help with the costs, but nothing was materialising and time was disappearing fast. In a crazy, grasping at straws attempt to raise the money Philippa and Tuba the school co-ordinators began to contact people they knew, friends, family, past volunteers etc..
The idea was that if everyone could raise a little money then together they could raise enough money to get some traditional classrooms built.
Local builders quoted the building of 5 rondavel classrooms at R30,000. Extra money is also needed for a toilet block, office facilities and new school desks.
The response to this plea was met with overwhelming support and so far the amount raised is R25,000.
All those involved with raising the costs are receiving regular updates as together we build Sisonke School.
If you would like to lend your support and contribute to the costs needed for building our school please use the donate link below.
Sisonke School opened 16/01/2008
Sisonke School opened it's doors for the first time on 16th January 2008. Preparations for the school began in August 2007, with a full time teacher development program. It was a result of the concerted effort and commitment of Luke Boshier, Philippa Colebourne, a set of teachers willing to take a pay cut for a vision and a bunch of volunteers occasionally working through the night to get the building and desks ready, that the school was able to open.
Without any contributions from the government, religious or charity institutions the team worked hard at fundraising the initial costs involved. In fact they were still painting and building desks with donated material in the last few days before opening. It was literally ALL hands on deck!!
In the run up to the opening of the school, the team decided not to advertise as they already had a number of parents interested in bringing their children. However when they opened the doors on the first morning they had a queue round the building of parents waiting to enrol their children. Although it broke the teacher’s hearts they had to put a limit on how many children they took on. With overcrowding in government schools still prevalent it was a decision of those involved not to allow this to happen in Sisonke School. There is now a waiting list to enrol at the school and the teachers hope that by next year they will be able to accommodate even more eager children wanting to learn.
The lucky 70 who can fit into the school's limited number of classrooms are on their way to an education they might otherwise never have had.
THE NEXT STEP
Sisonke need to find a permanent home for their school. At the moment they are using rented property which has limited indoor and outdoor space. The vision is to develop their own buildings on land they own. The vision also includes craft areas, nature play areas and organic vegetable gardens.
The other aim is to get the children at the school sponsored through our Sponsor a child programme. Parents are unable to pay the full costs of educating their child therefore we need subsidiaries to make up the shortfall.