Journal Entry 14: Sister PreSchool?

Recently, my Mom sent me a box filled with pens, paper clips, some coloring books, crayons, five very cool hand puppets and some other goodies. While she knows my maturation-process doesn’t seem to be in a particular rush, I begrudgingly concluded that the materials were not for me. Hmph!

I donated most of the items to the Denzhe Learning Center, a preschool around the corner from my house. There are about 30 kids, age 3-5, who attend the school and two teachers: Mrs. Thagulisi and Ms. Rakhuadzi. They were absolutely elated to receive the gifts. In fact, at first they couldn’t comprehend what I was doing.



















The teachers, with their new goodies! (Thanks, Mom!)



When I explained the situation to them, they kept asking how much my mother was selling these items for. The whole gift/donation thing took a while to sink in.

When it finally did, the ladies were blown away. They kept saying things like, “Oh, Mashudu! Ndo livhuwa, ga maande!” which is roughly “I thank you, enormously!” and “May Glod bless you!” If He does as many times as they encouraged Him to, it’s easy sailings for me from here on out.

Anyways, once they understood what was going on, they ran with it! They asked if they could create a “wish list”, of sorts, and I obliged. Here’s what they put together:
- Wood building blocks
- Soccer balls
- Puzzles
- Scissors
- Glue
- Paint, paper and brushes
- Jump ropes

Pretty humble stuff, seems to me. Currently, all options to obtain these materials are on the table, so I wanted to float an idea by anyone so interested.

The idea is to set up a sister pre-school (or small cluster of schools) to create an ongoing, sustainable relationship with the Denzhe Learning Center. This school could send over items similar to their list (maybe because of excess inventory or, if the school has the capacity, by purchasing new materials) and the kids of the Denzhe school could begin a correspondence with the students at your school. There could be a lot to learn from the cross-cultural exchange, both as students and educators.

















One of the learners. Where does a person apply for eyes that big?


We’d have to be creative to figure out the logistics, (ie. how the kids will communicate and how to pay for postage) but the teachers are quite motivated and they can speak English. Moreover, I’ll be just around the corner from the school for the next few years and am happy to serve as an intermediary.

So, if that sounds like you or someone you know, please shoot me an email at EricSteffen@gmail.com.

Also, if you just feel like donating some of the above materials, that would be great, too.

May God bless you. …Don’t worry; I have a few to spare.