Harare's Foundations Project: Building a Firm Foundation For The Children
The goal of the project is to ensure that the children of Zimbabwe are not deprived of their birthright, the Right to Education. In this regard, the project aims to build preschools for children from 2 to 6 years old throughout Zimbabwe. The Foundation concentrates on Early Childhood Development or Education (ECD).
“Primary beneficiaries of the project will be orphaned and vulnerable children aged two to six. Initial applicants of the first centre include children aged 2 to 6 living within the community of Caledonia,” said Foundations Project Director, Charlotte Haggie, in a written statement.
The Foundations Project is set to build an early learning centre, which will cater for 80 children in the impoverished settlement.
Currently, the Foundation is registering and has enrolled the first 16 children. Even though they have not managed to construct a full structure as yet, in a move that explicitly exhibits their total commitment to the project, the staff at the project have unanimously agreed to enrol the 5 to 6 year-olds and teach them without a classroom so as to gear them for junior school next year. The teaching complement is currently undergoing training in curriculum development and the ECD classes are set to commence soon.
“Currently, we have 16 children registered at the school. We have decided to start classes without a classroom for those children aged 5 to 6 so that they can receive the maximum teaching time before they attend primary school in January 2014. We have 7 teachers currently in training and curriculum development but have started class with the minimum training having taken place. We aim to have 40 children in class by August and to have all four classes full by the beginning of 2014” said Charlotte.
The centre will act as an early childhood learning centre where the children will be taught basics in preparation for junior school. They will also be fed as many of them have lost their parents and guardians who have either succumbed to the HIV/AIDS virus or are living with it and are therefore not in a position to fend for their children. Some are living on the poverty line as they have become unemployed since the economic meltdown that crippled the country.
According to its plan, the centre will be comprised of 4 classrooms, each catering for 20 children, an ablution block, a hall in which the skills development and educational workshops will be conducted and a kitchen from which the feeding scheme will be administered.
The Foundation has partnered with a member of Houses of Africa, Mr Mike Silva, and together they are finalising the logistics for the construction of the first classroom block, which has been pencilled in for March. They have resorted to using steel stud and dry walling for the walls and ceiling as it proved much more economic and also provides adequate insulation.
Moreover, they have also begun planting vegetables in their garden and look forward to setting up a mushroom project. These projects, which are also meant to augment the feeding scheme, will be intensified so that they can evolve into viable income generating initiatives.
The Centre seeks Community Buy-in, a component that is essential in the success of all community initiatives and interventions. In this regard, the Foundation has started training community members on how to grow fruit trees, nurture them and dry the fruits to maximise utilisation.
“Secondary beneficiaries include community members employed by the project as teachers, cooks and caretakers for the pre-school as well as those benefiting from income generating projects and skills development to be carried out within the curriculum. The Centre will also include a Skills Development Centre at which the community will be taught nutrition, health, business and specific skills so that they can develop their own income generating projects so that they are able to pay for the continuation of the children in their care,” Charlotte said.
For the project to reach completion and work at full capacity to realise the intended impact, over US$97 000 is needed. Furthermore, over US$60 000 is required for the monthly administration of the Caledonia Centre in its first year.
“Thus, the total once off costs for year one amount to $97 345 and the total ongoing costs for year one and year two amount to $60 828 and $71 800 respectively, so that per child the cost is $760 per annum and $64 per month for year one and $898 per annum and $75 per month for year two,” wrote Charlotte.
The Foundation has launched numerous channels of raising funds to meet the basic necessities of operating the project. As part of the Foundations Project outreach programme, one of its fundraising members, Nicola York, travelled to Bulawayo recently and ZDDT News Correspondent had an opportunity of interviewing her on their fundraising campaign. In March Nicola will be climbing to Everest Base Camp to raise money for the project.
Nicola expressed confidence that the campaign was progressing smoothly and that construction of the Caledonia project would be completed within the stipulated time. She is a teacher by profession and has taught in the United Kingdom, Kenya and Zimbabwe. She currently practises her profession at St John’s Preparatory School in Harare.
“Charlotte does most of her fundraising through art related donations in Harare. What we are trying to do is raise funds for her borehole and grey water recycling system. We need about US$1 000 for the borehole and we have managed to get about US$400, which is almost half. We have a few events lined up in Harare, the primary one is trekking to Everest Base camp. I am involved with my school as well so we have reached out to the families to help out and we are waiting eagerly for them to respond. We are also fundraising online, trying to involve communities overseas,” said Nicola York.
Nicola begins her trek on the 24th March and will reach Base Camp on Easter Monday.
Nicola commended the local community for being forthcoming and supportive, as it has taken the bull by the horns and helped kick-start the project.
“The community has reacted well to this idea. I haven’t actually been out (to the centre) since they started the clearing but Charlotte is really impressed by the response she is getting. She also gathered very motivated staff from among the community, so I think the response from the community is really brilliant,” said Nicola.
You can donate money to the charity in support of Nicola’s trek online at https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/everestformabvuku or make cash donations at St John’s Prep School, Harare or directly to The Foundations Project at 1090 Marley Drive, Kambanji.
For more information or to donate goods or services to the trek or to The Foundations Project please get in touch with Charlotte on