Transkei Leopards Primary School
Coffee Bay is located in a breathtakingly beautiful part of the Wild Coast in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. This region was part of the former Transkei during Apartheid. Because of its remote and rural location, the communities of this region lack opportunities to access quality education and health services. Due to the passionate and dedicated work of the Montessori trained teachers around Coffee Bay, there are now six excellent Montessori Preschools in the region. Unfortunately, there is no way for the children of these preschools to continue onto an equally excellent Montessori Primary School. There is none within 200km of the region. The only option will be for the children to attend one of the severely underserved local government schools. A few lucky ones may be able to study in Mthatha or East London, cities which are hours away from home and which charge fees well beyond the financial resources of our community members.
I am a German medical doctor who has been working here in the former Transkei for more than a decade. 3 ½ years ago, I returned to Coffee Bay, which is a particularly rural part of the region. Because my focus is Primary Healthcare, my patients are of the poorest of the poor in the country and, due to the rural location, even the continent. These patients rarely have the resources to travel to hospital and are often so ill that they would struggle to complete the journey. I am the only medical doctor around the Coffee Bay area and therefore my services are dearly needed here. There seems to be little chance that any other doctor might relocate here, a fact I learned when I left Coffee Bay to move to Mthatha, a city within the former Transkei about 8 years ago. I moved to Mthatha for my daughter to attend a private school. I had expected that another doctor would fill my place in Coffee Bay but instead 60,000 people were left without any medical professional services at all until I returned 3 ½ years ago!
My son has now reached school going age and will start Grade 1 in 2021. We have been grateful for the benefit of excellent early childhood education at one of the Montessori Preschools, Ncinci Ones “Little Ones”. The quality of education that he received was impressive: children are taught focus and concentration and are able to develop passion and creativity in a structured way that uses no force or punishment. All this in beautiful and peaceful natural surrounds.
My proposal is to engage a Montessori trained teacher and open the first Montessori Primary School in Coffee Bay, called “Transkei Leopards Primary School”. We will be able to offer 14 places for children aged 6 to 8 who would, for the most part, have graduated from one of the Montessori Preschools. These children all come from under-resourced backgrounds that could never have facilitated access to this level of quality in education. The 15th child will of course be my son and I will be intimately involved in the operation of the institution.
We need support from 14 individuals who are willing and able to provide the gift of excellent education. Each individual sponsor will commit to a child for 6 years of primary school education. The bulk of the monthly cost will be about €100 (ZAR2000) per child to cover the teacher’s salary. There will be additional, smaller amounts needed for educational materials and stationery consumables. The School will, at first, be located in a rented rondawel in Jonga Village. This will give us time to build a small, dedicated school building within the coming year.
I am committed to ensuring the smooth running of Transkei Leopards Primary School and ensuring that every cent donated will go directly to the excellent education of the children. My salary as a medical doctor is comfortable but has to stretch to support my extended Xhosa family of 6 adults and 13 children, some of which attend private school in Mthatha. That said, I am committed to stand as surety for any financial shortfalls that may occur.
Why you would want to contribute €100 per month to support a child’s education at Transkei Leopards Primary School:
You will be giving the gift of excellent education to a Xhosa child who will have the chance at a bright future ahead! You will enable this German doctor to continue to provide much needed medical services to one of the most under-served communities in the world. I will personally update you on the continued progress of “your child”. You will have the opportunity to meet the child you are supporting and his/her family when you take up the open invitation to stay with us in Coffee Bay at the world’s best Guest House “Sheep and Stars”.
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