An extra special post for an extra special month.
Without a hard hat in sight, and for some helpers, no shoes
on their feet, this past month has been spent building an outdoor space for a
preschool in the heart of a township. It’s been exciting, frustrating,
exhausting but ultimately hugely satisfying; and we are days away from opening
the doors to the newly upgraded Buttercup 2 Preschool. But before we get too
excited, let's start at the beginning…
On a hot and sunny day (most likely) in March of this year, I
was just dropping Joel off at his first preschool in South Africa, Buttercup in Lonehill, when
a new coffee stand caught my eye. At 7.45 in the morning I was naturally attracted
to the idea of a morning fix but was also intrigued as to why it had appeared.
The lady selling coffee explained that the wife of one of the handymen at the
school had set up a preschool in the township of Cosmo City and that they were
raising money for it. I was naturally excited by the idea of this and it
occurred to me that Joel’s preschool in the UK might also want to do some
fundraising as well. Julie and the Shirley Preschool Team were instantly
on board and so I organised for the handyman, Martin, to sneak me into the
township to ask his wife, Tari, if there was something specific we could
fund-raise for. On a hot and sunny day (most likely) a week later, he drove me
through the bustling streets of Cosmo City where pedestrians, cars, taxis, and
sewage flowing from burst pipes, were jostling for their place on the street.
We arrived unscathed and I entered the government-built house that Martin and
Tari live in, and in which they use the second bedroom to house the preschool.
The room is about 3 metres by 3 metres, which feels about the size of a third
bedroom in a 1930’s semi-detached house in the UK; and on that first day, 15
little faces sat sweetly waiting for my arrival. I spent some time with the
children before chatting to Tari about their needs at the preschool. At this
point I was thinking about equipment, maybe some books or some educational toys,
as they literally have nothing, but the response was, “we really need an
outdoor space”. Hopefully my panic didn’t show through as I took a tour of the
plot to see what we could do. As with most township properties, any surrounding
space has little outbuilding rooms built on to it which people live in, with a
communal bathroom. This plot had a little corner enclosed by two
outbuildings and a wall that was the potential spot. So, I drew up a plan with
Tari for some fencing and a gate, and to put up some shade. My anxiety had
subsided, and the project was good to go.
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| The gorgeous Buttercup 2 preschoolers. |
I waited until June to get going as April and May were
filled with netball, soccer and hockey; and Martin and Tari were away visiting
family in Zimbabwe.
Just before I started, we had a public holiday in South
Africa called Youth Day, which I had assumed was a day to celebrate the youth,
a bit like Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. It was a day, however, that changed my approach
to the preschool project and an important moment to include in its creation. I
attended our local church, Gracepoint, which looks a bit like a game lodge with animals’
heads on the walls, but beautiful artistic ones, to find out more about this
celebrated day. The children went off to Sunday school and I sat in the main
hall. After a few songs we sat to watch a film and anyone with children in the
room was asked to take them out. Armed with my British naivety I thought that
maybe the film had a bit of swearing in it, but to my horror, we proceeded to
watch a re-enactment of a massacre of the youth who were passively protesting
in 1976 about being educated in Afrikaans, which the Apartheid Government at
the time had decided to enforce. Whilst quietly weeping to myself and deciding
that the warning should have asked all children and British people to leave the
room, my weeping quickly turned to panic as all the Sunday school children
began walking into the hall to encircle the congregation, each clutching a lit
candle, and that one of these children was Joel. Thankfully there was only one
child that ran out clutching their chin, whilst we listened to some of the
children read poems and talk about the rights of children to an education,
as they are the future of South Africa. They gave the analogy that those
sitting in the shade of a tree, planted for them by a previous generation, must
actively bring those out of the scorching heat and into the shade, that they themselves
enjoy. I reflected that Amelie, Elowen and Joel sit in this shade, as do I, and
it was at this moment that I decided they too should be a part of this preschool
project even if taking them into the heart of a township was potentially a
dangerous thing to do.
Amelie came with me on the first day of work. I had spent
the days leading up to this moment watching Youtube clips on how to build a
brick wall as the wall that was due to support some fencing, had fallen down.
Amelie spent the morning hammering off cement from reclaimed bricks followed by
an afternoon of dancing in the street with a tape measure. I successfully built
a brick wall and came home exhausted but very pleased with myself. It had been
a brilliant first day…or so I had thought…
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| Amelie chipping cement off reclaimed bricks. |
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Building a wall
using my Youtube expertise! |
That evening we had a call from Tari saying that the house
owner wanted to sell the property and that Martin and Tari would have to find a
new house and location for the preschool. I was really frustrated that this had
suddenly happened, but I tried to conceal it as their problem was far greater
than mine. A few weeks passed and I received another phone call saying that a
new location had been found but it had a much bigger outdoor space to enclose.
I visited the site several times to meet the owner, William, to establish where any
underground pipe work might be, and to design the new space. It required a
lot of walls, fencing and gates, just to secure the area. The project had grown
arms and legs, and I was a long way from just donating some books and toys. But
nevertheless, I agreed to do it, but by now it had become a really intimidating
task. I had also by this point asked our church in the UK, the St James Road Methodist Church, to support the
project, which they were duly very happy to do.
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| The Plan |
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The preschool site.
The open door up the steps is the new preschool room. |
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| The reverse view from the preschool door looking out. |
Day One arrived again, and I went with Joel to start on the
first wall. A foundation for a perimeter wall had been laid years ago but
beyond that I was starting from scratch. Joel helped bring me bricks from a pile of reclaimed ones, as I mixed the cement and began to build the wall. I
felt stressed and alone at this point, which was
repeatedly heightened by the presence of a low hanging washing line that I kept
getting my hair tangled in. Joel migrated to the street to play with the local
children after his initial concern that they were outside without their
grown-ups. I at least enjoyed watching him play with the children, who were
running about bare foot, with rubbish and broken glass strewn everywhere. I went
home not able to see how I would get this project finished. I had a deadline of
September.
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| Joel playing with the local children. |
On Day Two I arrived early, frantically thinking about what I
had to do. As I pulled up at the site, I felt a clunk. And as I got out of the car
it dawned on me what I had done, I had driven over the wall I had built the
previous day and knocked it down at one end. This was perhaps my lowest point, and after moving the bricks into a pile and finding a dead rat, I headed straight home.
After receiving a text from Tari asking me where the wall had gone, I decided I
needed help.
Nelson, a friend of Martin and Tari’s who I had asked to make a steel
security gate, was also a brick layer and all-round everything man. So, I spoke
with him about the walls and he was very happy to help. It was great to have
someone else there on site, and Nelson, with his brother in law, worked swiftly erecting the walls. I had
a man called Trevor make some pallet fencing and gates, and before we knew it the outdoor space was coming together.
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| Nelson sitting by the first wall with his brother-in-law. |
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| Nelson building the first wall. |
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| The walls finished! |
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| Bringing the pallet fencing to the preschool. |
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Nelson, having just made the security gate,
outside his home in Cosmo. |
Our wonderful friends, the Hamilton's from our church in the UK, came to visit, bearing lots of gifts for the preschool, and who kindly gave up a day of their holiday to help with the
project. With all our children in tow, we descended on the preschool to paint some of the fencing, and to start digging a sandpit. After a hard day's work, the preschool with all its colour, was now looking great. We even, incredibly, met up with Julie from the Shirley Preschool, who came out to South Africa on holiday.
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| The children priming the fence. |
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| Painting on the wonderful Buttercup colours. |
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| The start of the sandpit. |
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| Elowen and friends shovelling out the earth. |
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| Amelie having a turn. |
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| Joel found the dead rat! |
The final push was back to just me, which meant that it was back to slow progress. But by now I was familiar with all the families on the plot and I had offers of help, particularly from Tari and her daughter, Clementine, and a young man called Ronald. We continued with the painting, spent a long time levelling the ground, and laying the lawn. We even had an uninvited visitor...a red scorpion!
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| Painting the primer on before the colour. |
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| Ronald putting primer on one of the gates. |
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With Ronald and Tari levelling and preparing the ground
for the lawn to be laid. |
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| Laying the lawn! |
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| Our little uninvited friend, the scorpion! |
A lot of people in South Africa come from Zimbabwe, and Ronald is one of these displaced people. Everyone's life here is unimaginable. Ronald was orphaned before he was ten because of AIDS and works in South Africa to support his grandmother and his brother. He's just twenty and I've loved working with him as have I loved working with Nelson, also from Zim, and getting to know his family.
So, we have reached the end of August, and like an unsatisfying end to a Kevin McCloud Grand Designs, we haven't quite finished. We will need another week before it is ready for children, and a further week of work whilst the children are there, which I will update you on in a future blog. But for now, here is a picture of Buttercup 2.
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With Tari and Ronald laying the grass.
So close to being finished! |
On the days that I’ve been over to Cosmo City, whether it’s
been moving or laying bricks, painting fencing or digging a sandpit, levelling the ground and laying lawn, I’ve
really enjoyed meeting the locals and getting to know them as they’ve migrated
towards the action. It’s difficult hearing people’s stories and knowing that
life is so hard for so many people. But hopefully this little preschool,
Buttercup 2, has provided locals with work and given them a wage to
support their families; has given Tari a bigger and
better business with which to support her own young family; and has given families in the
UK an insight into life in Africa plus a brilliant cause to support. But most
importantly, it has given these 15 children of Cosmo City and those that will
follow, a happy, exciting and inspiring environment to be inquisitive learners in. I hope in a small way, Amelie, Elowen, Joel and I, with the support of Laurence and all those who've been involved, will have helped bring these township
children out of the scorching heat and into the shade; after all, they are the
future of this beautiful country.
Lots of love from Cosmo City, South Africa.
Jess xxx
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| The children with their new books. |
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| Having fun with the preschoolers. |
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| With Tari, the head of Buttercup 2, and a wonderful friend. |
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