Kindergarten Shiguru

During our travels through Namibia, we came into contact with a reverend from the Methodist Church in Namibia. Through him, we learned about the kindergarten in the village of Shighuru, which unfortunately had to close because it could no longer be financed. This meant that an important facility for early childhood education was no longer available for the approximately 50 children in the area.

In addition to playing together, attending kindergarten is especially important as preparation for school. The children learn about a structured daily routine and come into contact with Namibia's official language, English, in a playful way. This is important because from the third grade, lessons in Namibia are mainly conducted in English. Many students struggle to follow the lessons as they speak one of the local languages at home. If the children are familiarized with the English language in kindergarten, they have better chances of successfully completing school. There is a public school in Shighuru, so having a kindergarten creates a long-term and continuous educational path for the children.

For this reason, we revived the kindergarten in Shighuru in January 2024 together with the Methodist Church in Namibia, which takes over the management and coordination on-site. The Methodist Church provides the land and a building for the kindergarten. So, we can get started right away.

Unfortunately, the building that previously housed the kindergarten was no longer available. However, our local partner, the Namibian branch of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, immediately arranged for an alternative site after our commitment to resume the kindergarten operation. They built a structure with two classrooms for around 50 children from Shighuru and the surrounding area. A water pipeline was laid to the site, two toilets were installed, and thanks to a generous donation from the Christmas market Bad Reichenhall 2023, we were able to erect a fence around the entire site.

In addition to constructing the kindergarten building, we also needed two kindergarten teachers to run the kindergarten in two groups. We quickly found two qualified women enthusiastic about our project. For the training of the two kindergarten teachers, a dedicated trainer from the Methodist Church, who is herself a school principal in Windhoek, volunteered. She organized a five-day intensive workshop with the kindergarten teachers. The kindergarten follows the Namibian preschool curriculum with the following themes: Myself, My Body, My Family, My Home, My School, My Community, Animals, Water, Plants.

At this point, a big thank you to the trainer for her outstanding commitment, traveling over 700 km from Windhoek to Rundu for the workshop.

We warmly invite you to take on a sponsorship for the Shighuru kindergarten. Your monthly contribution of between €5 and €50 makes a significant difference and helps improve the educational opportunities for the children in Shighuru. This covers the ongoing costs of approximately €400/month for two caregivers and the security of the premises at night and during kindergarten operations. If we can ensure continuous funding for the kindergarten, we aim to provide a warm lunch for the 50 children in the future, which we estimate will incur additional costs of €400/month.

To show you the impact of your monthly donation, we are happy to keep you updated on the kindergarten sponsorship with pictures and updates from the kindergarten, if you wish.

Our long-term goal is to finance the kindergarten's ongoing costs through monthly sponsorship contributions. Until then, we cover the personnel costs through one-time donations. The children attend the kindergarten from 7 am to 1 pm. During this time, two kindergarten teachers are responsible for the children's care. They are supported by security personnel who are on-site around the clock. This is necessary to protect the kindergarten's inventory and to provide supervision over the 50 children during breaks with more personnel than just the two educators. Since many parents cannot pick up their children from kindergarten in the afternoon, the kindergarten teachers and the security personnel accompany the children home in three groups at 1 pm. The costs for the two educators are approximately €250/month. The round-the-clock security of the premises costs another €150/month. The positions are filled by dedicated individuals from the village community, and the wages are agreed upon with them.

A kindergarten thrives on children's creativity. To enable the children to draw, paint, and craft, we finance blocks, drawing and craft paper, pens, brushes, colors, and glue for the kindergarten as needed. Craft time in kindergarten takes place under the guidance of our kindergarten teachers, with thematic areas from the curriculum being playfully integrated.