#WomenWhoChangeTheWorld: It takes a village to raise a child

A group of dedicated women have come together to change the lives of young children in Bolobedu.

Busisiwe Maimela spoke to Masanah Sarah Mashatola, principal of the Rapatla Pre-School located in Ga-Moshakga village in Bolobedu.

Masanah explains how her passion for children led her to open a school.

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“I worked with a few pre-schools before I got the idea to start my own. The one thing that I kept noticing with the children in this area is that most of them come from very disadvantaged backgrounds. Some children aren’t well taken care of and that touched me. It moved me to be serious about having a space of my own to not only teach, but also take care of these children during the day,” explained Mashatola.

She further exclaimed that her vision behind the formal learning space is giving the children proper, adequate child protection, keeping them from being abused, reducing malnutrition, teaching children about being responsible from a young age through scribbling activities, toilet routines and speech.

She also started the school as a way to help reduce poverty within families through employing people within the community to help her with the daily running and managing of the school.

“I started drawing up a formal proposal in 2011. Before that I had an informal structure made of planks where children would come for learning. The fact that there wasn’t enough space to do anything properly prompted me to be firm within my actions. I managed to secure the space for the school which is bigger and has ample space for children to be divided into age categories from 0-18 months, 18-36 months and 3-4 years. It also has a well-equipped kitchen where we prepare and store food for the children,” she explained.

The pre-school currently has more than 140 children from Ga-Moshakga village and surrounding areas.

Mashatola stated that the rising number only gives her motivation as it shows that parents are happy with the work she and her team do with regards to the children’s health and safety.

“At the end of the day, we need to understand that children want to be children. Sometimes they play and someone get hurt but we don’t teach them through being harsh and impatient, instead we show them that what was done is wrong and therefore they should apologise for having hurt the other child, even if it was unintentional. In cases where children get seriously hurt from falling from the swings, we call the parents and inform them of what happened and also arrange that we take the child to the clinic for medical treatment,” she stated.

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With a positive mind through everything, Mashatola mentioned that in the next few years, she believes her school will be counted amongst the best pre-schools in Bolobedu.

“Because we are no longer a private entity, we rely on the government for funding and even that doesn’t cover the necessities for all the children. Our children eat according to a nutritional diet given to us by a specialist and we prepare meals for them three times a day. As soon as we open our gates, we start preparing food for the children because one may never know the condition in which these children live outside of the school yard. To ensure that no one feels left out, we don’t allow their parents to give them pocket money because some don’t have. We give them everything equally,” Mashatola exclaimed.

Speaking on the funding they receive, she added that they sometimes have to take out of their pockets in order to meet the requirements given by the dietitian and the government. She attributes the success of the school to timing and a strong communication base with the parents of the children.

“We start operating every day from 07:30 until the last child leaves the premises. We do not rush the parents to come pick up their children and neither do we advise that they make alternative arrangements for the children because we know they are safer here and well catered for,” she concluded.