Clean Water
Educare Mpame have implemented strategies to allow residents easier access to water.
Vegetable Gardens
That's why we've implemented a rural vegetable gardening project at our preschool.
Community Involvement
We have full support of the local headman and his council. Employment for a teacher and a cook from the community.
Together, we can create a brighter future for all. Join us our efforts to bring about meaningful change.
Educare Mpame has been actively working on creating easier Access to Water for the residents of the village of Mpame
Water is a human right
Water in Mpame comes from communal taps which service about 6 -8 households per tap. This water is obtained from the Mcwasa water scheme, which was started in 2016, but has been a disaster, as the taps generally do not have any water. In July 2023, for the previous six months there had been no water for 90 % of the time
Educare Mpame has been involved with other non-profit organisation in the area trying to rectify the situation with the Mcwasa water scheme and by the end of 2024 the scheme was running reasonably efficiently, and monitoring is still done daily.
When the communal taps do not have water, it is obtained from springs and little streams these water points are usually at the bottom of a steep slippery embankment, difficult to access and is also shared with livestock. Educare has upgraded these water points by installing a solar pump in the stream and a tank on top of the embankment, making access to water easier
Water Points
After watching people get water out of springs and little streams which were generally down in the bottom of a steep embankment and shared with livestock.
Educare Mpame, has devised a plan to make water more accessible from the springs and little streams. A solar pump has been installed in the spring or stream and water is pumped up to the top of the bank into a tank making access to water much easier.
A nonprofit organisation, Swim for Rivers, has helped raised funds and four points in Mpame have pumps and tanks installed. This is a great help for the local community. Swim for Rivers really liked the plan as it worked at the fraction of the cost of installing a borehole.
Educare has also assisted Swim for Rivers to install five watering points in the Mtentu area, with installing two pumps and training the local community who then installed the other three with great success.
Swim for Rivers also arranged for two to be installed in the Kwapahla with Educare assisting in the installation. In future Educare Mpame would like to install a few more watering points in other areas, not only helping the Mpame community but other communities as wel
Hippo Rollers
A Hippo Roller is a wonderful water transportation device for easier and more hygienic transportation of water. It can easily transport 90l of water at a time. The NGO Swim for Rivers has donated 150 hippo rollers to our village of Mpame.
Hippo Rollers have made a huge impact on our community. Women now have a bit more free time to spend with their children. Water is transported more hygienically and by using hippo rollers women suffer much less injury and fatigue. Even young boys are now very keen on collecting water using this new innovation!
At Educare Mpame, we believe that education should be holistic and hands-on.
That’s why we’ve implemented a rural vegetable gardening project at our preschools. This project not only teaches kids about the importance of healthy eating, but it also fosters a sense of team work and responsibility. Join us in cultivating a brighter future for our children and our planet.
Benefits
Having a veggie garden at Educare Mpame
Creating a veggie garden in a remote rural village at the preschool has numerous benefits.
- It provides fresh and healthy produce for the children’s meals.
- It teaches them about the importance of sustainable living and taking care of the environment.
- It can serve as a source of income for the community by selling the excess produce.
- It promotes community involvement and teamwork.
- It can be a fun and educational activity for the children to learn about gardening and where their food comes from.
Seasonal Harvesting
Seasonal harvesting aligns agriculture with nature, focusing on crops that thrive in seasons.
This practice enhances yield quality and sustainability while providing fresh produce at peak flavour. It fosters a deeper connection between our kids and their food.
We wish to involve the local community as much as possible.
We have the full support of the local headman and his council. Sunshine and Little Flower each employs a teacher and a cook from the local community.
Including the Parents
In rural communities, parents often place all responsibility for their children's education on the teachers.
Most parents here have unbelievable survival skills and intuition, but not much formal education. We want to get our parents involved in this process and therefore we hold parents workshops where we teach them strategies for getting involved at home, Such as telling their children bedtime stories and reinforcing the principles we teach at school.
Meals
We currently serve one cooked meal a day
Our menu has grown and we now serve hot maize meal porridge, samp and beans, pap and spinach and cooked rice with soya mince. Every day we include veggies from our wonderful veggie gardens. We also serve a glass of juice after play time. This is often the only cooked meal our learners will receive in a day.
Sponsor a Child
Portion Sponsor:'R200/month (R2400/year)
Sponsor a Teacher
Portion Sponsor: R500/month (R6000/year)