Creche donations fill Lacey Road community with hope

CHRISTMAS came early this year for the children of Thubalethu creche in the Lacey Road settlement when Cathryn Aylett and Caron Strachan from Bright Eyes Centre visited the creche last week with donations of clothes, toys and special education equipment, last week.

The women were responding to a series of articles in the Berea Mail about the challenges faced by Ntombinye Nojiyeza and the children at her creche. The articles drew a wide response from Berea Mail readers who rallied to help. The reward was watching the faces of the children under the ages of six, who could not contain their excitement as boxes full of clothes and toys, were carried into the creche.

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Nojiyez,a who has run the creche since 2002, said she was very grateful for the donations, especially the toys and learning material.

“It was only yesterday, when the Berea Mail interviewed me for the article and today they come with visitors bearing gifts. I am happy that there are people out there who want to help the kids here. The kids will now be able to play with the new toys because the ones we had here were already old. I just want to thank everyone who has helped us and I wish that they can also do it for other people in the future,” she said.

Howard Ncube, who is part of the school’s committee said: “We are happy that today these children received toys, clothes and learning materials. We hope its going to encourage the community and especially the younger generation to not give up. What’s left now is the rebuilding of the school because when it rains the roof leaks and the windows are broken. This place must start to look like a place of learning. We are grateful that there are people who are prepared to help us with that.”

According to Cathryn Aylett, who is a Vision Intervention Therapist and specialist Preschool Teacher at Bright Eyes Centre, they are planning to form a working relationship with Nojiyeza and assist her where possible in providing an excellent ECD programme for the little ones.

“We regularly see mothers and children who come from these areas and we can appreciate the struggle to offer what is best for our young children when resources are limited. We may not be able to offer everything they need but we are passionate about what we do and sometimes a little support is all we need,” she said.

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Gavin Ross and Carron Engelbrecht generously donated paint for the refurbishment of the creche. Despite the great response from the community the structure still requires a lot of fixing, in particular the roof and windows and the door which does not lock securely.

Anyone who wishes to donate items to the creche can drop off donations at a collection point at the Bright Eyes Centre, 135 Bellevue Road, Berea, between 9am and 1pm daily, or at the Berea Mail offices at 115 Escom Road, New Germany. For more information contact Berea Mail reporter, Rudy Nkgadima on 031-7164444 (w) or 0725391824.

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