Umbilo NPO faces possible closure
In his efforts to keep the school running, La Colombe, who is also an author, hosted a fundraiser earlier this year to support 20 children attending the school.
THE Covid-19 pandemic and its crippling effects has caused a Durban-based non-profit organisation to face the possibility of closing its doors.
Richard La Colombe, founder, educator and principal of Child of Africa Preparatory and Primary School, which was established two years ago, said the pandemic placed severe financial constraints on the organisation.
Speaking about the NPO, situated in Umbilo, Colombe said, “As the President once said that we must learn to live with this virus for a long period. We have been victims of this since we started the project. Financially, everything went down and we couldn’t afford to pay for our children or buy food.”
In his efforts to keep the school running, La Colombe, who is also an author, hosted a fundraiser earlier this year to support 20 children attending the school.
“The school was started in May 2019 in an effort to minimise the need for foundation phase learners travelling long distances from their homes to attend school in other areas. We are now struggling as an organisation because of the pandemic. We are not getting any funding anymore and we have been struggling for the last 12 months.
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“We opened our doors but we had a problem with the venue because of the number of children. I still believe that the door can be open for us to accommodate more children. There are vulnerable children who are still at home without attending school,” said Colombe.
He added that the organisation doesn’t only focus on education but also on its feeding programme, welfare and assisting those around them.
“We want to thank our partners and parents for the support we get. Two weeks ago, we had nothing to feed the children with, but they always come and support us with food for the school,” said Colombe. To assist the school, email sa.childofafrica@gmail.com or call 031 206 4039.
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