Founding MD joins Mandela Washington Fellowship Class of 2015

Koza with African musical icon Angelique Kodjoe

Congratulations to our MD, Nangamso Koza for making it as a Mandela Washington Fellow for 2015. The Fellowship is a flaship program of the President Obama's Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI).

Together with 499 other inspiring young Africans, Koza spent six weeks in the US. She was placed at Howard University for a six weeks leadership course where she had an opportunity to mingle with some of America's leaders ranging from Congressmen to leaders of the Washington DC anti-apartheid movements. They concluded their trip by joining President Obama for a four day long Presidential Summit.

"I have no words to describe my time at Howard. I was at home. I prayed hard to be placed there for it's history. Howard is like the my American Fort Hare University. I met and spent time with such inspiring souls. I am eager to share my knowledge with my people and take Afrika forward.

"I am now even taking kiSwahili lessons, offered by my sister, Tunu Mlweli from Tanzania whom I was at Howard with. I am working on a couple of literacy development programs with some of them. Meeting so many talented and passionate young people renewed my commitment towards serving my people. I have faith my generation will enable Afrika to reach her full potential. I feel so rejuvenated."

Watch President Obama's address to the MWF Class of 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gleDaZNDVy0

Our 2013 highlights

Xerox enabled Tsoseletso to produce a historic newsletter

Tsoseletso High School made history by being the first school in the history of the Free State province to have a newsletter of their kind produced by learners. The project forms part of our School’s Literacy Development Programme, under our Whole Development Unit.

The learners were selected by the school’s English department. They went through a rigorous two months training period that comprised of basic reading and writing skills, and leadership development classes. The outcome of the training was having a team of twenty (20) learners who could run a newsroom like any other. Together with the language department and the school management team, we decided to introduce firm but fair rules to encourage the learners to put their academic work first. The rules included a clause that stipulated that: each learner’s overall average should not be below 65 percent.

They also had to comply with the three compulsory spelling and exercises per month, organise and implement a literacy development programme in a primary school and volunteer at the school’s library once in two weeks. Their elected committee is supported the school’s languages heads of department. The learners are in charge of content production, supervised by their educators. Initially, they newsletter was just going to be a publication for learners by learners to just share stories about their school. In one production meeting, the learners decided they wanted to feature thought -provoking articles that have never reported by learners in a newsletter before.

They wanted to use the newsletter to encourage their fellow schoolmates and parents to begin having some of the conversations that the school has never sat down with them and have. Some of these articles included one that investigated the school’s textbook shortage crisis. The reporter came to a production meeting with a list of people he wanted to interview starting from the school principal to the learners and the educators. What was more inspiring was the learner-reporter opting to use his article to encourage parents and learners to donate textbooks they were not using to the school, and highlight the importance of learners taking good care of the loaned textbooks.

Another brilliant article covered the school’s Matric performance. The school has a reputation of being the best in the Free State province, but over the past two years, they struggled to achieve anything above 90%. The article looked at what could be hindering their school from reaching their 100% goals. The route the learner-reporter took included interviewing some of the past learners who did exceptionally well, the current Matric class, educators and parents. It became clear that the socio-economic challenges the learner’s families faced affected their school performance. The article highlighted the importance of parents coming in on board to support educators in running the school social welfare department.  The learners were also encouraged to study together and help each other as early as the eighth grade.
The newsletter further serves as a fundraising initiative. The team decided to donate their first sales to the school. They have planned to purchase equipment needed in any newsroom to make their work easier.

“This has been overwhelming for us. We knew our learners had it in them but seeing the final product is just overwhelming. Thank you, for everything” said Mr. Motlolometsi, the school's principal.

Ke Ngoaneso – My Sister Project 

The Ke Ngoaneso—My Sister project was established within days after our MD, Nangamso Koza realised that, at one of the schools she was tutoring English, a learner has missed schools for two days because they were on their periods, and could not afford sanitary towels.

The programme falls under our Learner Support Unit. The Unit addresses the challenges learners face beyond the classroom. We work with each school’s social welfare department and management team in indentifying critical challenges faced by the learners. Our belief is not to walk into a school with a solution, but rather work with each school’s stakeholders in designing programmes aimed at addressing the identified challenges. The programme is run by learners, assisted by the school’s social welfare team. It is meant to not just only provide sanitary towels, but to create space for dialogues about healthy lifestyles including knowledge on how learners can better protect themselves from diseases. The learners convene bi-weekly sessions, facilitate by their teachers, and at time themselves. On monthly basis, we ensure that they have one session facilitated by a health professional. The learners took the decision to present the programme to their parents during one of the school’s parents meeting.

The parents were blown away by how matured the learners were. They were impressed by how forward-thinking they were, and immediately pledged their support. Some of the learners who serve within the health department pledged to support with designing and supporting the programme.

 

Over 200 packets of sanitary towels have been distributed to schools on monthly basis since June 2012. The project restores the dignity of the female learners by donating a packet of sanitary towels to each learner, as per list compiled by the school’s guidance educators. Our female learners no longer have to stay away from school because they are avoiding ’accidents’ that might embarrass them. Thanks to efforts by our Ubuntu Ambassador in Bloemfontein, Likeleli Mputlane , we welcomed Absa on board. Absa encouraged their team to each adopt one younger sister, thus donating one packet or more of sanitary towels. We were honoured to be requested by the Bloemfontein branch (Brandwag) to come and have a conversation on how to develop the partnership further. They each wanted to know what more they could contribute individually, and on behalf of Absa.

We are pleased that the young ladies are growing up to be caring and considerate citizens. We believe that no child should ever have to miss school because they cannot afford food or sanitary towels. We cannot allow that to happen under our watch.

Feedback from the learners:

“I live with my mother and my two younger sisters. Our one roomed shack has a bed, a wardrobe, a table, two chairs and a sponge I sleep in. My mother passed away when I was seven, and I have never met my father. My periods started last year. I was 13 when they started and my grandmother said they started too soon. I used to use old pieces of cloths to avoid any accidents. I was forced to stay at home during the first two days of the cycle. Because of the hygiene pack I receive at school, I no longer have to worry about accidents. Thank you for making sure I am safe at school. Thank you” *Thandeka, 14 years

“Thank you for making me understand what periods really are, and how to take care of my body” *Kelebogile, 13 years

“Thank for Ke Ngoaneso. I had never used pads before. Thank you for making me feel like I too deserve them” * Sibongile, 15 years

“I wish you could make all girls feel so special like you do with us. Bless you” *Lerato, 16 years

“I share my pads with my sister. Thank you” *Tsholofelo, 14 years

Our Leadership Development Programme attracts the UFS

Our Learner Leadership Development Unit formed part of Representative Council for Learners Leadership Development Programme , a section of the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Schools Partnership Project his year. What an honour it is to have this partnership with the UFS.

A total of 22 schools with more than 220 young leaders formed part of the programme. The programme included quarterly RCL training and mentorship sessions and school visitations.

The first training session attracted well known educationalists and leader-developers like the likes of Prof Jonathan Jansen, the Vice-Chancellor of the UFS, and the university’s then Deputy –Dean of Student Affairs, Mr. Phumelele Mgolombane. Prof. Jansen dwelled on the importance of academic excellence and authentic leadership in schools. He got the young leaders excited about the future by showing them a life beyond their current socio-economic needs.

The schools now boats having counter-cultural innovative leaders whose portfolios range from Academic to Environmental and Community Engagement Officers—portfolios the schools never had. The training included some of the UFS’s student leaders who serve as school mentors. They are students who faced the same the same challenges the learners are currently facing when growing up. They are students who have benefited from a variety of internal leadership development programmes the UFS offers, and have experience in mentoring RCL members. The follow-up training sessions also continued on the same path, creating an opportunity for the RCL learners to interact with some of the national educationalists, leadership experts and mentors. We are humbled by Prof Jonathan Jansen’s belief in our dream, and his continuous support. We are very pleased with how our RCL Development Programme has been received by the schools, and our partner, the UFS. We wanted to expose the young leaders to a selfless leadership philosophy - puts the needs of those we serve first before ours

Feedback from the learners:

“I was elected into a position because I think I scare some of my classmates. I had no idea that serving people actually brings one inner peace. I feel so different now about everything. I need time to think about what I am meant to be and how to change to be a better person” * Boitumelo, 17 years

“I feel like a new person. You saved my life. Thank you” *Tshepo, 15 years

Phetogo – A Book Club driven by a desire to make change

Phetogo is a vibrant book club that introduced a new culture of reading at Tsoseleso High School this year. The club boasts a membership that has each grade represented. The learners were trained on how to run a functioning book club. The book club’s main objective is to popularise reading in their school.Each member reads one book per month. The reviews they write are marketed in the school throughout the month. This method has worked as more learners have been reportedly singing up with the library to be able to access books. The club is very strict on this rule as members who don’t submit their reviews cannot be permitted into club meetings until their submissions have been received.

 

The club decided to honour former President Nelson Mandela by celebrating his birthday (18 July) with learners from Pholoho School for the Blind and Disabled, in Bloemfontein. They had organised reading and writing exercises for the learners. This was history in making as no book club in the history of the Free State province had ever done that before.

They blew us away by organising one of the best spelling bee competitions we have ever formedpart of. Because of the interest the competition had generated, the club had to hold two preliminary rounds prior to the scheduled day.  In total, twenty learners participated on the day. The audience decided to donate R1 at the door in a form of an entrance fee that is used to purchase more books for the school’s library. On that day, the Resource Centre was jammed packed with excited learners who wanted to see who was going to be crowned as the school’s best speller of the year. The team was assisted by the school’s RCL in organising everything, from designing the programme to ensuring we donated prizes to the best spellers. The biggest shocker of the day was seeing a Grade Eight learner crowned as the school’s best speller of the year.

Phetogo book club has prepared to set up five more book clubs in their school as more learners have shown interest in joining this reading revolution. They also plan on hosting a SeSotho Spelling Bee competition to promote the use of indigenous languages amongst learners. We look forward to what 2014 has in store for our journey with them.

 

 

 

 

PUKU takes children’s literature to the next level

We had a chat with Ms Bontle Senne, the MD of PUKU.co.za about her work, and their vision. We thought you would enjoy it too.

 

What's PUKU's main objective, and how are you working towards that?

Technology has not being harnessed extensively and systematically to support Southern African language children’s educational or recreational resources, until Puku. Puku.co.za is the first authoritative multilingual, interdisciplinary reference site and resource on African children’s literature.

The principle aim of the Puku Children’s Literature Foundation is to bridge both the literacy and digital divide that confronts the vast majority of Southern African children. The Foundation works towards this with development of digital, mobile, radio and storytelling programmes to improve the quality and quantity of children’s educational and recreational materials in all Southern African languages.

 

Give us a brief background on PUKU

The Book Development Foundation (BDF) was an entity comprised of various representatives of South Africa’s book chain i.e. publishers, printers, authors and reading promotion organizations. From its inception the BDF partnered with the National Library of South Africa (NLSA) in running the Centre for the Book. This partnership ended in 2007 when the NLSA made it clear that the Centre for the Book should come fully under control of the NLSA and saw no role for the BDF. The board of the BDF subsequently decided to close the BDF and distribute the assets to book-related projects. Elinor Sisulu and Colleen Higgs proposed that the BDF consider giving a portion of the funds to start a children’s literature website. The BDF Board gave them go ahead to present a proposal and the result was puku.co.za.

Since it went online in October 2009, puku.co.za has established itself as the premier online resource for children’s literature in Southern Africa.  Puku.co.za was the only web weekly newspaper on African children’s
literature and digital content. 

What programmes and campaigns have you done and embarked on previously?

Our digital platform was our biggest programme over the last two years. Users can now search for books by languages, age or genre. We can now also feature news events, tips for writers/illustrators, feature publishers, share reading recommendations and learn more about the work of the Foundation on our site. The sleek and clean design courtesy of ThoughtWorks SA is ideal for mobile users. This is a great leap forward for our online presence but we still have far to go.

What are currently focusing on?

Puku is currently working towards launch of the first-ever isiXhosa Children’s Story Festival showcasing and promoting the recreational and educational children’s reading materials produced by South Africa writers, publishers and illustrators, in isiXhosa. This festival will feature storytelling, book challenges, book sales and readings, workshops for teachers and librarians, and panel discussions.

What partnerships have you formed that have enabled you to deliver on your mandate? 

Working with organisations such as the National Arts Festival, the African Studies Department of Rhodes University, the Grahamstown Foundation, South Africa Primary Education Support Initiative (SAPESI), Nal’ibali, African Storybook Project (ASP), Constitution Hill and Gcinamasiko Arts and Heritage Trust, we are working towards a number of projects to fulfil our mandate. On the digital side, the work done by our technology partners ThoughtWorks SA and Dimension Data is invaluable.

 What's PUKU's view on our education system, especially our very low literacy standards?

For many children, the textbooks or supplementary educational materials ordered by schools are the only reading materials they have access to. In the absence of a variety of relevant, engaging materials, it is not surprising that few children are motivated to read outside of their textbooks. The result is that the less children read, the less proficient they become; the less literate they are, the worse their educational outcomes. Education is like a building – without sound foundations, the structure will never be stable. Nobel Laureate Heckman (1999) has demonstrated that education investments at ECD stage cost less than similar investments in adults and have more impact.  By providing culturally, linguistically and contextually relevant content to African children we increase their chances of loving reading, improving on literacy rates, and ECD overall, especially within the most disadvantaged communities.

How do we make reading fun for children?

Africans need to develop relevant, exciting, diverse, cheap children’s book in all our local languages. We can’t continue to rely on only state-sanctioned textbooks or on European texts that have little relevance to children growing up in South Africa’s rural areas or on books written decades ago. We need young people to become the producers of content and we need them to write stories that are engaging, fun and intelligent. Sometimes we can be too elitist about how we think about books – kids books can be silly or funny or scary, not just educational and not just with a moral to the story. South African children need more graphic novels, more comic books, more board books and more novels for cellphones: anything that makes reading accessible and easy.

As the Head of PUKU, what's your vision for your term? 

We already have thousands of visitors to puku.co.za every month but I’d like to see thousands more parents and teachers making use of the site to find and buy African children’s books. I look forward to the successful launch of a number of indigenous language children’s story festivals and I hope that Puku can expand onto radio and reach more of South African’s most materially deprived communities.

 How do we (people) get involved in helping PUKU spread their message?

Follow us on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook and visit our site. Have a look at our reviews policy; write and submit reviews of local books in local languages. Support African writers and illustrators: buy children’s books! If you can’t afford to buy books, visit the library. Tell your kids stories: keep our languages alive.

 What's your favourite book?

If forced to pick only one: Donna Tartt’s‘The Secret History’.

 

Visit www.puku.co.za for more details

Here are some few facts about us

Inqubela Foundation is non-profitable registered charitable Trust. It was established in 2010, after the realisation that public schools in under-developed communities still lacked the basic necessities needed to enable them to cultivate a culture of learning and teaching excellence.

Vision: To develop schools in developing communities into leading centres of academic excellence and leadership development.

Mission: To run holistic, educational, innovative and transferable learner-centered programmes responsive to developmental initiatives and independent of location and environment through:

Researching on, designing and implementation of effective-run programmmes that will ensure maximum self, school, community and social development; and Creating networks of emerging students, youth leaders, institutions, families, local and international communitiesat largeto maximise the impact of their knowledge, skills and competencies in order to address educational and social challenges faced by the learners in developing schools.

Our values are:

-Ubuntu

-Excellence

-Innovation

-Selfless leadership

-Spirit of peace and reconciliation

Board of Trustees:

·Dr. K.C. Makhetha – Vice Rector, External Relations at the University of the Free State

·Mr. Sibusiso Tshabalala: Final year student at the University of the Free State

Our Guardian

Mr. John Samuels: He is the former Chief Executive of the Nelson Mandela Foundation. He worked for many years with former President Nelson Mandela,as an advisor and speech writer. Samuels played a vital role in the establishment of the Nelson Mandela Rhodes Scholarship. He is also the former headmaster of the Oprah Winfrey School Leadership for Girls Academy.

We are part of the solution of our education system inthis manner:

First Phase: Identifying a school that needs help the most. We look at their Grade 12 results for the past five years, they have to have and/or still struggle to get a pass mark of above 50 percent. The school needs to have less than five extra-mural activities.

Second Phase: Together with learners, educators and parents, through a series of dialogues, we identify the challenges the school faces, and the role that each stakeholder ought to play in developing the school into a leading centre of academic excellence and leadership development.

Third Phase: We implement our programmes, in a manner that addresses the school's challenges. We monitor and evaluate our impact on the school.

Fourth Phase: We implement our exit strategy by training, supporting and mentoring learner-leaders within the school. Our belief is that, wherever we go, the school must take charge of the programmes, and raise champions that will carry them forward.

We are proud of many achievements we have managed to accomplish, in just two years. We count the following as one of them:

• Having hosted the Free State Province's first Education Indaba for parents, learners and educators
• Designed and launched Bokamoso Tutorial Classes where more than 40 university students, lecturers and young professionals offer weekly tutorial classes in our adopted schools.
• Having launched libraries and book clubs in partnership with FunDza.
• Having our Leadership Development Model adopted and used by the University of the Free State in their Schools Support Programme
• Having designed the Free State Province's first Human Rights Education Model for schools
• Having established Ke-Ngoaneso/My Sister Programme that ensures that more than 50 female learners never miss school again because they can't afford sanitary towels. The programe further expands into a monthly mentorship dialogue between the learners and young professionals who serve as mentors.

This what people have to say about us:

“Inqubela Foundation is one of the most inventive education change projects at any university. It draws on the experience and expertise of accomplished activists and education thinkers as background advisers to the project. It is multi-pronged, recognising that in the poorest schools the strategy has to cover the range of needs from basic infrastructure to leadership development to teaching support.

“But the foundation does more than reach out to schools in need. It has become the incubator for new layers of young leadership to emerge through the experience of working in the foundation’s school projects. One member has already gained from the Inqubela platform to become visible as an international achiever in the Google Young Scholars community. It is through selfless involvement in the work of the Foundation that replacement leadership for our society can emerge.

“Inqubela works in the cracks of education which no huge government programme can reach. It goes where few education officials spend their time -in the daily grind of making education work where material resources are few and teacher energies have long dissipated.

“The foundation gives hope and new energy in schools and among learners often forgotten by our focus on the privileged.I recommend without reservation this student-driven project for funding and support, noting the stable governance structures set in place to oversee the work of Inqubela.”

Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor of the UFS

“I wish your programmes could continue for the next 10 years. I promise you, you will revive and produce great leaders. I have realised that you guys do it from your hearts and that means a lot. There is a super change in my life and I just hope that you will reach more schoolsso as to create better people.”

“We have learnt a lot from Vulamasango High School , thank you. This initiative has awaken the plans we had as the RCL. We will now put all the plans we had in order and strive to become greatleaders. We now have a clearer vision”

“This had been the best workshop ever. You guys made it easy for us to engage and feel free to corporate and voice our opinions. The sessions were very uplifting and motivating. They made us realise the potential we have as individuals and as a team. I am very grateful that I was part of this event. It was worth every minute.”

“I learnt a lot from today’s sessions. I learnt that leadership is a lot of work that needs constant communication between learners, teachers and our communities at large. I learnt that key to success starts through reading . Mr. Israel asked us to “Keep the fire burning and, if it’s not on, one should turn it on, today.”

“The foundation has inspired us as leaders of our school and individuals to starts being effective and have the passion and drive in serving our fellow learners. We were inspired to develop our schools and assist the learners in achieving high marks. ”

The above quotations were responses from RCL members who attended the Learner Empowerment& Critical Conversations held in April 2012

“My children have become thinkers in their own right. Thank you Inqubela Foundation. ” Mr. Tshediso Motlolometsi, principal at Tsoseletso High School, in Bloemfontein

We are reaching out today, for tomorrow

Meet our inspiring Chairperson of our Board of Trustees - S'bu Tshabalala

What are your full names, where were you born, and what memories stand out for you from your childhood?

I am Sibusiso Blessing Tshabalala. I was born in the Vaal Triangle, Vereeniging. I was raised by a female-led family. My grandmother and mom have always been my greatest inspiration. Both  happen to be teachers, so I was consistently reminded about the importance of education and good values.

Tell us more about your education background

I started off my primary schooling at Parkridge Primary, in Vanderbjilpark. I finished off primary schooling at the Roshnee Islamic School (was only there for a year). I then moved on to HTS Welkom-a crazy place for boys. I was a border at House Gratia for the entire duration of my high schooling years. Great times! 

You have been a social activist as early as your schooling years. Tell us more about that

In 2006, a group of friends and I started the Dynamica 3099 group. We were a group of 30 learners in grade 9 that would eventually finish off high school in 2009 (that's how we got to the 3099). We were genuinely focused on trying to find ways to develop our surrounding communities.

We did reasonably well and had a number of initiatives that kicked off the ground with the help of several organizations. In 2008, Future Entrepreneurs and SAGE - SA ( companies led by Quentin Eister and Ria de Villiers at the time) spotted us and asked if we were interested in representing South Africa at an international social entrepreneurship competition that was to be held in Brazil the following year (2009). We eventually got involved with SAGE, the group (Dynamica 3099) still exists at the school. Several number my friends who happen to be part of it include, Jerry Mokoroane and Maphori  both studying at the University of the Free State.

 Let's chat about the Google Top 10 honour. What did that mean to you, your community and country?

Each year, Google searches for 10 students internationally, who demonstrate strong leadership capabilities, an entrepreneurial drive and a commitment to social activism.

The Google Young Minds are invited to the Google Zeitgeist Conference, an exclusive three-day event, where over 400 influential business leaders and visionaries from around the world come together to share their perspectives on global issues. These ten students will also take part in a series of ‘master classes’ with the aim of mentoring them to help further their future projects.

The opportunity to represent South Africa was a great honour. To date, South Africa has produced three Google Young Minds, and being part of the three is amazing.

Tell us more about the debating sessions you offer to Free State schools

One of the biggest challenges in the South African schools debating circuit is the lack of access to good trainers/coaches in the province. Schools that consistently do well in the SACCEE league and other competitions often have access to excellent training resources and a dedicated trainer/coach.

This is how the Free State Schools Debating Board (FSSDB ) Saturday School started off. This initiative does not replace the existing in-school training many schools currently have. The objective of the FSSDB Saturday School is to grow the base of debaters from all schools and develop high school debaters who are trained at an advanced level. There is no obligation for any school to participate; we do however encourage dedicated debaters to participate in this initiative.

The FSSDB in a nutshell runs each Saturday (during the term), 9:00am – 14:00pm during the school term. It comprises of the Advanced Training and the Competitive Debating League leg.

 Why did you choose to accept the nomination to serve on our board, and what's your role and vision for the foundation?

I was particularly inspired by the work that the foundation had done in the preceding years before my involvement. The indelible passion of the Managing Director, Ms Nangamso Koza also happens to be quite contagious. More importantly, the programmes and initiatives that tare initiated by the foundation focus on addressing the root-causes we find in the malaise that is our education system. 

The generation that freed us had a mandate - "Freedom in their lifetime". What do you think ought to be ours?

It has become a stock-phrase and probably cliché; but building a base of well-educated and capable young people should be our goal. I think our generation stands a great chance to make this happen. Whether it happens is of course entirely up to us.

Where do you think we should start fixing our schooling thus education system?

This happens to be a difficult question because I think there is no one-size-fits-all approach to fixing our educations. Some of the challenges are structural, some administrative and some have to do with the inability of our leaders to act when they ought to.

But besides all of these challenges, a bigger problem that relates to many other things is the lethargy and unwillingness from ordinary citizens - you and me - to realize their responsibility in building our nation. We are too removed from our problems and at times the only thing we happen to do is harp on about the problems without doing much or anything at all. We lack the agency to act.

 Your message to the South African youth

Find a cause, identify with it and work relentlessly to drive it. South Africa needs young people to take up their rightful space and build our country.

Your favourite book

This is both an unfair and difficult questions, but I'll settle for Paulo Coelho's  'The Alchemist'. Ben Okri's Famished Road is a close contender.

 Tshabalala was part of the Mail & Guardian Top 200 Young People. He is part of the Google Top 10 Zeitgelst Class of 2012. He is a final year law student at the University of the Free State. He is also a regular columnist for various publications.

 

 

Launch of the Nomahlubi Mpondwana Scholarship in Whittlesea

We recently launched the Nomahlubi Mpondwana Scholarship at Sada Higher Primary School, in Whittlesea. The scholarship was founded by Zintle, Bhongolethu and Nangamso Koza. It was established in 2011, and caters for learners and university students who excel academically, and in need of financial assistance to enable them to further their studies.

 We have one journalism student that we co-support at Rhodes University. Sada Higher Primary schools was chosen because it was established by the benefactors’ grandfather, the late Thomas Mthimkhulu Mpondwana, in 1968. It is also where their late uncle, Dennis Vulindlela Mpondwana, and their mother, Nomahlubi Mpondwana studied. The nine lucky learners were selected by the school as the most deserving of the prize. They received new school shoes and socks, with their winter school uniform getting ready to be delivered. The donations were presented by Ms Nangamso Koza at the school.

“We have always wanted to give back home. We were raised by the Whittlesea community. We can longer remain silent while our siblings suffer. It’s what Ta’mkhulu would have wanted. There was no better place to launch the scholarship than his favourite school” said Koza.

“We feel very honoured that Inqubela Foundation has chosen our school to receive such gifts. We can never have enough words to say thank you” said Mr. Luthando Mgolodela, the school’s principal.

Sada Higher Primary School is set from various developmental programmes that we offer. We are looking forward to the beginning of what will be a life-changing journey.

 

Media Release

16 April 2013

Issued by: Nangamso Koza
Founding MD

inqubelafoundation@gmail.com