Qanda School Project

“with the heart of the lion…..”

QANDA SCHOOL PROJECT
SOUTH AFRICA

Project Director …Virginia Ruffulo

The Qanda School is in the town of Esinyameni, a community of approximately 20,000  black South Africans, on the outskirts of Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, in the foothills of the beautiful Drakensberg Mountains. Pietermaritzburg, with a population of over 450,000 people, is quite a sophisticated city and offers many tourist attractions and schools of higher learning. Together with the city of Ulundi, it is the capital of the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa. This area is about 1 and ½ hours west, by car, of the very large city and seaport of Durban, on the Indian Ocean.

The school was built in 1976 by the Zulu government and has not been updated since. The families have to pay a small fee for each student plus uniforms and supplies. ($8 per year per student for primary school and $15 per year for the nearby high school.)  Many students cannot afford to pay, yet are still admitted. There is poverty, illness, HIV, and high unemployment.

The school presently has 493 students, grades 1-4 in the primary section and grades 5-7 in the upper section.     There are 14 dedicated teachers. During my visit there in March of 2007, I interviewed the teachers and principals and asked them to speak of their dreams. The first and most important answer was books, and hopefully a library for the children. Next came a desire for teachers to get help teaching English, then computers and a media center. Then a sick room for the students as many of them are HIV+. Then flushing toilets……..after that it was a playground (with swimming pool), and repairs and maintenance of the buildings, as they leak and have no heat. One can see the priorities.

The teachers speak of the students as OUR children. They are very close to the children and the main concern is that they learn to speak better English and learn computer skills so they may be better prepared to find employment.

Education is mandatory in South Africa. The government and all the people realize the importance of education and the children especially crave better learning. They beg for books. The teachers here speak Zulu as their first language and, during the Apartheid era, many were forced to learn Afrikaans instead of English, so they teach English almost as a third language! They are desperate for children’s books and novels, as well as history and geography books so the children can learn to read in English. Children’s books in English are difficult to come by. Because there is so much poverty in South Africa most families can’t afford to buy them; therefore, very few get published.

My first goal for the Qanda School project is to build a library and supply it with books for the children. Although these children are poor, they are not from the most destitute communities in South Africa. They are also not as geographically isolated. Their proximity to large cities provides easier access to potential job opportunities and further education. So what these children need is that short boost to get them over the language hurdle so they can compete in the workforce or go on to higher education. In a way this is similar to the reasoning behind Affirmative Action programs that have been established in the U.S.

This generation of children is the first to grow up without knowing Apartheid. They are the generation of hope to keep South Africa a positive growing culture of many ethnic groups and tribes. They are full of hope for social equality and progress and don’t want to lose what so many have fought and died for.

So, the first project is a Library and Books……….Can you help?

DVD available

Qanda School Project                        a non profit 501(c) (3)
Virginia Ruffulo                                Life Resources Institute
3008 Madrona Lane                          # 931230130
Medford, Oregon, USA 97501
541-776-1035
virginia@lionspath.com