HeronBridge Training and Resources Centre has been changing lives through education since 2010, and now they have a mobile library bus.
Charm Laubscher, operating director at HeronBridge Training and Resources Centre, and Glynis Courtney, head of the pre-preparatory at HeronBridge College, shared more about the centre and the bus.
Courtney has a passion for foundation phase education and she uses the analogy of building a high-rise building. “If you throw a slab down and build 12 stories on that slab, your building will be wobbly, but if you secure a strong foundation, your building will be strong and stand forever,” she said.
The bus, named Mandela Bus, is blue and was donated in 1997 by Japan. It was then turned into a mobile library bus. The bus has served 32 schools on the East Rand and has now made its home on the HeronBridge campus, serving Diepsloot and other surrounding communities who live in poverty.
Although, Courtney was excited to say that for the first time in 30 years, pre-schools are included in the literacy programme.
The bus goes to different schools on weekly rotations, doing different training sessions with both teachers and schoolchildren.
The centre also shows teachers how to create and make their own resources as they can’t give resources to all the schools in the area. The centre has created a lot of opportunity during its time, explained Laubscher.
“We have three ladies, who have come through our training program, who have joined us and are now facilitators.”
The centre doesn’t stop there. They have also partnered with Stop Hunger Now SA, and according to Laubscher, they feed almost 700 children per day. HeronBridge provides and packs the meals and the centre distributes the meals at public schools in disadvantaged communities, like Diepsloot. The centre has built about eight schools in poor communities since 2010 when they started, and include mini makeovers for better learning environments.
Courtney and Laubscher said they hope to see more improvement through education and hope to build a stronger educational future for South Africa.
Details: www.htrc.co.za
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