• Learning Center
• Early Education Program
  • Supported pre-schools
  • The teachers
• Child Sponsorship Program
• Volunteering
• Homes of Hope
• Youth Ambassador Progam
• Teacher Training Program
• kickHIV!
• Partner Projects
• School workshops

Pastoral pre-school

History

Since 1991, this pre-school offers lessons to children from a neighbouring slum. The school is located in an old catholic church and was included in GoAhead!'s program in 2008.

The needs of the region

The unemployment rate in the Gauteng province is 27%, above the national average. Correspondingly, 26% of the population live in poverty (source: The Citizen). A futher 15% of Gauteng's population are HIV positive, the second worst statistics after KwaZulu Natal (source: Metam).

What are we doing, and who is involved?

The pastoral pre-school employs six teachers, two cooks, two caretakers and a director. All teachers have the South African EDC certification and are educated specialists.

They offer lessons in English, reading, writing, maths, arts amd music, as well as breakfast, a snack and warm lunches. This constitutes a very special program for the children.

How many children are we supporting, and how?

We are currently supporting 57 children through this pre-school by paying their school fees. The total student population is 220, and many more kids could use our help. New sponsorships are currently being assigned to this pre-school!

Heartbeat

History

Heartbeat manages an After School Center in the township of Katlehong. In 1997, Heartbeat started a co-operation with tne NGO „Early Childhood Development-Projects" (ECD-Projects) to accelerate community development. Since 2008, Go Ahead! supports Heartbeat's pre-school programs.

The needs of the region

The unemployment rate in the Gauteng province is 27%, above the national average. Correspondingly, 26% of the population live in poverty (source: The Citizen). A futher 15% of Gauteng's population are HIV positive, the second worst statistics after KwaZulu Natal (source: Metam).

What are we doing, and who is involved?

Our partner Heartbeat works together with the non-governmental organisation (NGO) "Early Childhood Development Projects" (ECD Projects) on the pre-school education programme. ECD Projects is an NGO that specialises in the further development of pre-schools. Existing pre-schools in the townships of the South African province of Guateng who are in need of support with management and development with teaching are chosen for this purpose. Through intensive training and structural adjustments, ECD Projects is able to develop pre-schools so much in one year that they can subsequently work alone without any further help. We saw the very positive results with our own eyes when we visited some of the pre-schools.

How many children are we supporting, and how?

After an extension in 2011, GoAhead! supports 34 children from the Heartbeat After School Center which are enrolled at an ECD pre-school. Our most important sponsor for this program is the Munich-based reggae band Jamaram who has been supporting us since 2008 by collecting donations during their concerts.

So far, five pre-schools in Kathelong have received support from the Heartbeat-ECD co-operation. GoAhead! funds the children's school fees, stationery and some transport costs.

Imbaliyezwe pre-school

History

Imbaliyezwe is a government-run school which works closely with the 1000 Hills Community Helpers, a partner of GoAhead!. We are supporting this school since 2011.

The needs of the region

In KwaZulu Natal, about 45% of those capable of working are unemployed, 50% of the population lives in poverty. In a survey by the Community Agency for Social Enquiry (2003), 55% of the unemployed and 32% overall stated that they cannot afford enough food for themselves. The HIV infection rate is at 16% (source: AFRA).

What are we doing, and who is involved?

The school teaches more than 800 children, ranging from pre-school age to fourth grade. Many children are orphans, owed to the consequences of HIV / AIDS and political violence. Their lives are generally characterised by violence and lack of perspective. 1000HCH have made it their mission to help people in the region, pre-schools being an important part of this effort.

Their pre-school is part of a larger school complex and houses about 140 children. There are four teachers to take care of them. The children are being taught English, reading and writing, in order to prepare them for primary school. Furthermore, they are supposed to receive one warm meal a day. This offering, however, is in jeopardy as the government does not cover all expenses.

How many children are we supporting, and how?

Go Ahead! funds the lunches for 140 children, consisting of rice, bread, vegetables and fish. We also fund two cooks from the region, paying them an appropriate salary. With one of your 6 Euro partnerships we can pay meals for two children at Imbaliyezwe for a month!

Crafcor and #9 pre-schools (KwaZulu Natal)

These two pre-schools which lie in the same region as the Imbaliyezwe pre-school were part of our program until 2010. Due to disagreements between the pre-schools and our former partner organisation "God's Golden Acre", we cancelled our support at the end of 2010. We could not guarantee any more that our donations were used in a focused and transparent manner.

GoAhead! is staying in contact with those pre-schools though and monitors their development, with a view at possibly continuing our support in the future.