Hope for D�Kar�s orphans
Leinanyana Tsiane | Tuesday May 20, 2014 13:16
Situated five kilometres from D’Kar, Zanichelli Day Care Centre caters for orphaned and needy children between the ages of two and half and five who reside in the dusty village about 35 kilometres from Gantsi.
The Zanichelli’s founded the centre in 2004 after realising that some children in the village were living in abject conditions, while others idled the whole day.
School Head, Caroline Modikwe told Mmegi that the centre was originally a foster home for children in Gantsi and surrounding areas, but had later been transformed into a day care centre as it was not being fully utilised.
“We did not receive many children from Gantsi and surrounding areas and it was not economically viable to run the foster home,” she said.
“The Zanichelli family turned it into a pre-school. All the children who attend here are from D’Kar but we also admit those from Gantsi as long as they have their own transport to and from the school,” she said.
Modikwe said children from D’kar are ferried to and from the centre for free on a daily basis and also do not pay school fees.
“We feed them three meals daily. The classes commence in the morning until late afternoon. We have three classes and six teachers. We follow the government school term and we hold our graduation in October.
“All our graduates are absorbed into primary schools at the start of their Standard One,” she explained.
Modikwe said that the children are taught in English and Setswana, with two teachers per classroom. One teacher also translates in Sesarwa if there are children who do not understand Setswana.
Besides the teaching staff, the day care centre has two cooks, two gardeners and a driver. There used to be a registered nurse engaged to take care of sick children, but she left due to financial constraints.
Modikwe revealed that all the staff salaries are paid by the Zanichelli family and appealed to the government for assistance. She said while some donor agencies have come forward, this was far short of requirements.
“We are appealing to our government to assist us with the payment of staff salaries. Though we have donor agencies helping us, this is not enough. Some assist us by sending clothes for these children and we have good Samaritans here at home too who donate clothes to the school,” said Modikwe.
Government is currently assisting with monthly food baskets for the children.
The issue of financial constraints was clear during Mmegi’s visit to the centre, with the ceiling of one of the buildings having fallen down during the recent heavy rains.
“We also appeal to companies to come forward and help us,” the school head said, adding that, “We do not have a dining room for the children and during winter, the children use their classrooms for meal time”.