Cape Town - Gift of the Givers (GOTG) has stepped in after a desperate principal from Msobomvu Educare Centre called them after heavy rains resulted in the ceiling collapsing in one of her classrooms.
Connie Mase said she had to take out buckets full of water as the room was flooded after the rain over the weekend.
Kids at Msobomvu Educare Centre in Khayelitsha had to either stay at home or be confined to a small space after the heavy rains destroyed the classroom.
While mopping the floor, Mase had to also send texts to parents, asking them to keep the kids at home as there wasn’t enough space to keep all 39 of them.
The centre that has been running since 2001 is registered with the Department of Social Development, but Mase is in the process of reregistering since her five-year contract expired. An expired contract means the school is currently without government funding.
“My contract expired last year September and I am currently in a process of re-registering with the department.
“In the previous years we did a fund-raising event to raise funds so as to fix the roofing. For a while it was fine and during that time I also tried to fix other places, thinking that the roof will sustain us for longer, but to my surprise it collapsed.
“The sad truth is I can’t keep the kids in a place like this as much as the parents can’t keep them at home for much longer. I need help with either funding or building material so that I demolish the whole roof and install a new one,” said Mase.
Neziswa Ntante, a parent whose kid has to stay at home said: “Today my son had to stay at home because I was told that there won’t be enough space for all of them. My concern as a parent is that we are working, so we can’t afford to keep them at home for much longer.”
Gift of the Givers spokesperson Ali Sablay said: “With the severe weather hitting the Western Cape over the weekend, the GOTG team have been visiting various informal settlements around the province.
“In Gugulethu, there are about 50 structures where residents lost food items, bedding, clothing and school uniforms including stationery.
“In Khayelitsha, the team will be visiting an ECD centre were a roof collapsed, leaving them with severe damage.”