HOME UPDATE
BIRTHDAYS
This month, 3 children celebrated their birthdays. Theresa turned 8 years old on the 12th of June, Nelia turned 10 years old on the 24th of June, and Linto turned 14 years old on the 25th of June. All the birthdays were celebrated as a family to give wishes and gifts.
SCHOOLS
Grades 7, 9 and 12’s resumed school on the 1st of June 2020. In the Home, we have Rhodia in grade 7, Rosaria, Purity and Obet in grade 9, Eustus and Gertrude in grade 12. These will be sitting for the examinations in December 2020.
The rest of the children in primary level have been attending lessons at Kwathu Community School to assist them during this holiday before all grades resume with learning. Theresa and Philip recently became part of the Kwathu family. They also take part in the lessons as they will be enrolled in School once schools re-open.
TRAINING
The 4 house mothers attended a training from the 15th to 19th of June 2020. The training was in Basic Qualifications of Youth and Childcare Work and the focus was on “Belonging, Attachment, Relationships, Mastery and Competence, Independence and Empowerment, Generosity and the Spirit of Ubuntu.”
The significance of this training was to equip the housemothers with new skills and knowledge as far as care for the children at Kwathu is concerned.
Generally, the children have been doing fine except for a few who had minor illnesses of flu and coughing, which was treated. The other older children have been assisting with work within Kwathu such as gardening and cleaning the surrounding.
KWATHU SCHOOL REPORT
Kwathu school closed on the 20th of March 2020. This was due to the COVID-19 pandemic which was spreading globally. The government directed all schools to close on that date so that each person can stay home and be safe.
On the 18th of May 2020, Kwathu school teachers resumed coming to school to interact with the Kwathu children who stay within the premises of Kwathu school. This was to keep them busy with school related issues since schools were still closed.
On Friday the 29th of May 2020, Kwathu staff had a general cleaning at the school to prepare for the opening of the school on the 1st of June 2020. The school was disinfected as it was the requirement of all schools to do before opening.
The school successfully re-opened on the 1st of June as directed by the government under the Ministry of Education. The school has 12 pupils who are in grade 7. Upon opening, 11 pupils reported. This showed that the learners were happy to be back in class to learn.
A week after re-opening, the class had all the pupils present. The learners have been consistent and eager to learn with their mask on. Upon entering the school premises, all the pupils always follow the public health guidelines which are; observing social distance, avoiding crowded places, wearing face masks, washing hands with soap and coughing in a flexi elbow.
Besides following the public health guidelines, the school does preventive maintenance every Wednesday just to keep the school clean as usual.
Additionally, Kwathu staff and management does the cleaning of the surrounding every Friday to set an example to the learners and keep the environment clean.
DONATIONS
We had quite a good number of donations from friends and well-wishers in the month of June.
A donation of 20 bags of 12.5kg mealie meal was given through the office of the Vice President-emergency relief department. This kind gesture was done through one of their representatives, the District Commissioner for Kazungula District, her honour Pascalina Musokotwane.
We also had a donation of clothes from Mignon McNamara. She gave assorted girls wear. We are always grateful for these kind hearts. No donation is too small, each of them has a positive impact on these kids.
A donation of a 20 X1kg of sugar was donated by Ashok Surati, a director at Saro Agro investment. He has consistently been helping the children for sometime now in his own capacity. Keep on the good work.
CHILD HEALTH WEEK
It was a child health week from the 22nd of June to the 27th of June in the Zambian Health calendar. The children below the age of 5 where given Vitamin A and de-worming. The older girls between the ages of 13 and 15 years were not left out as they received the HUMAN PAPILOMA VACCINATION(HPV) against Cervical Cancer.
These health workers came directly to the Kwathu Free Haven School and administered the vaccination, de-worming and administering of Vitamin A. Our children and girls took part in a health exercise after explaining to them the importance of receiving the vaccine.
NEED LIST
Our needs at the home are numerous, but the most urgent ones are:
- Bedsheets
- Blankets
- Pillows
- Boys clothes (trousers, shorts, shirts, t-shirts,vests, scarves) of ages 12-18 years
- Warm jerseys
- Socks
- Face masks,
- Thermogun
- Hand wash
- Sanitiser
- Pads
- Toothpaste etc.
How you could help if you would love to give a donation towards our feeding program please follow this link: (https://www.givengain.com/cc/kwathu-school-feeding-program/)
