Today was the day we had arranged to go out with Val, who is the teacher that goes into the township schools. She has also produced a lot of reading books in English and native languages. She picked us up at 8.30am and we drove out of White River to one of the townships called Maminza. Just driving through the township I (Maggie) was amazed at how things have changed since I was last here 9 years ago. The corrugated iron shacks have mostly gone and been replaced by brick built little houses even with gardens. The school we visited there was not one I had been to before but very similar. The changes here were amazing too. This was a very big Primary school with 1400 pupils between the ages of 6 and 13. The classrooms were much better than before with many more resources, mainly because they are now getting Government funding which they weren't getting before. So they now have exercise books for the children to write in, workbooks for their Maths and reading books. It also means though that they have to abide by government rules which have bought a lot more paperwork for the teachers. We gave them the pens and pencils that one of our Toddler Mums and other people had bought for us to take them and they were delighted. The children in one class then sang for us. They wanted to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to show off their English but then we asked them to sing in Siswati for us. We saw them being given their lunch of rice and stamp beans again and then went down to the Pre-school on the same site. That is another thing that has changed. Last time there was no Pre-school provision for younger children, many of whom are orphaned from Aids. This Pre-school has been built by the Primary school with some money from the parents. We then drove through the township to see the shopping mall that has been built there and went to the cash and carry to see where they buy the food in bulk for the children. We also went to see a new library which has been built in the township. This was an amazing new building with lots of books both adult and children's and also a computer area and a study area where the children can come after school to do their homework.
After some lunch, Val took us back to where she used to live, which is now the printing office for her reading books which are sent all over Africa. They are mostly dual language books to get the children reading in their own language as well as learning English. They have drastically improved the literacy standard of a lot of these township children. This is where the rest of the money will go to that our church back in Capel have donated and they are extremely grateful.
The weather has been very hot again today and at the moment there is a storm rumbling around.
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