Amos Meerkat Schools pre-school project gets financial boost
The Amos Meerkat Schools National Pre-School Project received a boost of N$635,235 from the FNB Namibia Foundation Holdings Trust.
The Pre-School Project provides local farmers or communities with the opportunity to start a pre-school on their farm to enable every pre-school child becomes prepared for primary school. A mother on the farm or in the community is equipped by the project to run a small pre-school for the children on that farm or in the community.
Some of the many success stories include the Nelson Pre-primary School founded by Theresia Ndara. This school was established in 2010 with her own funds and had only three children, but today Theresia looks after 72 children and has two teachers and one caretaker.
“I saw many children walking long distances to schools and some even staying home because it was too far for them to walk. It is my desire to prepare the children for grade 1, setting a strong foundation and ensuring that children from the Ombili suburb are exposed to the same opportunities as the children from more developed suburbs. The Amos Meerkat Early Childhood development training programme equipped me with the necessary skills and also donated educational material for my pre-primary school. I encourage other pre-primary school to approach Amos Meerkat for assistance to better prepare our children for grade 1,” Ndara said.
Magda Shamalaza, a mentor of Amos Meerkat for various schools advised that the Amos curriculum not only teaches children but also teachers.
“Our mindset changed because of different training courses of the Amos Curriculum including trauma healing training, first aid training as well as character development. We chose Amos Curriculum for our schools because it is clear and understandable and has the potential of laying some very important spiritual and intellectual foundations. The behaviour of our children has also changed for the better and parents are proud to send their children to our schools,” Shamalaza said.
“We are extremely proud of our teachers and our children as well as all the communities and farmers that have lend a helping hand. It is truly inspiring to see how our small children receive the right tools and equipment to then take the next confident step into the mainstream school,” Revonia Kahivere, Corporate Social Investment Manager at FNB Namibia said.
