In March 2015 The Afri-CAN Charity launched a brand new programme in the Philippi Township. After serving over 17,000 Free School Breakfasts to children in Philippi it was time to take things a step further. We undertook boots on the ground research across the Philippi Township to find out what these teachers needed to better educate the children in their nurseries. The result of this research was unanimous, the teachers main need was to provide safe, clean and comfortable environments for their under 6 years old students. Their current environment mainly consisted of shacks with no insulation, holes in the ceilings and little to no comfort.
Before
The funding, construction and oversight of these new buildings is provided by The Afri-CAN Charity. Each nursery is a sustainable new enterprise, The Afri-CAN Charity provides the entire infrastructure, but in this case we donate all that’s needed via a non repayable grant – we take no ownership, but we oversee all aspects of the build program and enter into maintenance contracts to keep the nurseries looking great.
The first step in this program was finding materials that were easy to construct and maintain in the township. We found Imvusa Timber Works a local Township company that could provide us with Nu-Tech structures. Nu-Tech structures are strong, stable and durable and have 3 times more resistance to water and other weather hazards than the typical construction in the townships as well as being 5 times less maintenance. In addition the Nu-Tech planks are fire resistant and due to the fibre cement construction they create a more suitable temperature for cooler and warmer weather.
The next step in the new build process was removing the old structure and building the new. The Nu-Tech structure worked well for the nurseries as it could be constructed off site and brought into the Township in pieces, which then required assembly. The nurseries were relocated for a short period to allow for the construction of their news nurseries.
Works in Progress
The end result was a beautiful new nursery painted Afri-CAN blue with our logo proudly represented on the front. This guides other nurseries in the area, that are not currently supported by the Afri-CAN Charity, to come find out how we can help improve the lives of their students. We want to paint the Townships Afri-CAN blue and work together to improve the lives of the most vulnerable in the community.
The Finished New Nursery
27th May 2015