Building Futures

Building Futures

Birth Date: 2007
Dream: Fund and build a play center to provide early education, meals and after-school activities to children in an area with an 85% unemployment rate and 78% HIV-positive population.
Where: 6,000-person Ufafa Valley of Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa.
What: A 10- X 10-meter multi-purpose building that includes an open floor plan, private counseling room, secure storeroom, generous veranda, outdoor wash basins and outdoor toilets. Used primarily for pre-schoolers.
Who: Mothering Across Continents partnering with WozaMoya.org and a donor group in Hawaii.
Funds: $26,000 matched with funds from our Hawaii partners built the play center and now provides meals, activities and fun for several hundred children. We're awaiting the results of our Guiding Coalition member Sharon Dempsey's "I CAN Make a Difference" campaign at UNC-Greensboro where one can filled with quarters -- about $125 -- will be used to train staff to take play experiences into the Ufafa Valley communities where long distances between villages and harsh road conditions are challenges for reaching children.
Results:

Construction from February-June 2009.

Borehole for running water and trenches for updated electric wiring constructed.

Grand opening in October 2009.

Hired a manager for the Play Center.

Clowns Without Borders teaches children circus skills helping develop their cognitive and physical abilities while having fun.

Four staff members attended a two-day workshop on early childhood development!
Next:

Train South African staff to take play experiences into Ufafa Valley communities, greatly extending the Center’s reach.

Build housing facilities for doctors and volunteers.

Main Navigation