Nursery Schools
At the beginning of 2022, our Foundation started two nursery schools for children from 2 to 6 years old in the village of Mganja. Five women from the village have been trained as Montersori Early Childhood Development teachers. More than 100 children from Mganja are now being prepared exemplarily for primary school. Our Foundation wants to give these children a good start in life, giving them the opportunity to develop themselves further than their parents could and that will ultimately benefit the entire community and future generations. All learning and playing materials are second-hand and come from schools in Limburg, the Netherlands. The teachers are paid partly from the school fees that the children pay (60 euro cents per month) and partly by the Nazareth Foundation Malawi.
Volunteers
In 2022, Diana Roeten from Venlo, the Netherlands, was active as a volunteer at the schools for 3 months. She has improved the quality even further. Together with Cas Hofstee and with advice from the teachers, she has developed material that is now used in the schools. Cas and Diana have also decorated the walls at the school called "Chiyambi" ("the beginning").
Expansion
A number of villages are too far away for these young children to attend the current schools. That is why we are currently building a third preschool. Evodia Devide, a woman from one of the villages who previously worked as a volunteer with young children, will follow the Early Childhood Development training. Afterwards he will be the 'teacher' for the new school. Evodia was once bitten by a snake and therefore only has 1 leg. She was beautifully portrayed by Wilde Gazen a few years ago and featured in their social media campaign.