CSN EMPOWERS LOCAL COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
The Caring Sisters Network Inspired by the legacy of Madiba, is passionate about education and empowerment.
‘Our children are the rock on which our future will be built. They will be the leaders of our country, the creators of our national wealth who care for and protect our people.’ – Nelson Mandela.
Resonating with this deeply, the caring sisters network embarked on empowering local community schools during the month of November and took the initiative in providing learners with valuable resources that uplift and empower each of them.
Three programmes were launched and implemented at two local schools namely; Sydenham Primary School and Rippon Primary School within the Overport region.
- Readers are Leaders Campaign
- CSN Literacy Programme
- CSN Sow and Grow Campaign
The Caring Sisters Network identified the need of a library at Sydenham Primary, and took the initiative in providing its learners with a complete library as part of their Readers Are Leaders campaign,consisting of bookshelves as well as storybooks and educational literature. Mrs Hendricks, an educator at Sydenham Primary School, said: ‘Our Grade R library has been non-existent. The ages 4-6 are the foundation years for learning howto read. We thank the Caring Sisters Network for this much needed and kind gesture.’ The learners were notably delighted at having their own library and began reading their books immediately.
Educators at Rippon Primary School enlightened us on their need to allow their learners to engage in age appropriate literature chosen by the teacher of each grade. Three library trolleys were donated along with new and second hand educational literature to Rippon Primary for this purpose.
“We are eternally grateful to the Caring Sisters Network for the excellent work they are doing at schools to make a difference in the lives of our learners. The library trolleys and books donated have really brightened our library and made doing research skills so much easier. “A smiling face and a helping hand outweighs the wishes of the land.” Said Mrs SD Singh, an educator at Rippon Primary School.
The school has a total of 1080 learners from grade R- 7, with the use of their mobile library every grade is given a chance to equally engage with literature suitable for their age group and understanding.
“We are proud to be associated with the Caring Sister’s Network who have upgraded our school library with donations of books and the beautiful book trolleys, as well starting up our vegetable garden” said Ms K.D Mbatha, Principle of Rippon Primary School.
The Readers Are Leaders initiative inspired the launch of a new programme, CSN Literacy programme.
It has been discovered that due to the large number of learners per classroom, many find it difficult to cope and grasp what is being thought.Thus the aim of the programme is to provide basic literacy skills to learners on a smaller group basis.
Volunteers from the Caring Sisters Network have commited themselves to volunteering at Sydenham Primary two times a week to assist teachers by providing these basic literacy skills.
The CSN literacy programmeis monitored by the respective educator and is in line with his or her syllabus. CSN Literacy volunteers work together with educators to ensure success is achieved overall.
The initiative has been well received and is currently underway at the Sydenham Primary School. 2019, sees the launch of the Programme at RipponPrimary School.
“We believe that every child has a right to education and granting them access to a wide variety of books and valuable skills can only produce successful leaders for our country” said Yasiera Mahomed Suliman, Chairperson of the Caring Sisters Network.
The Caring Sisters Network went a step further and launched their first ever sustainable green project.
The Project was decided upon as a solution to one of the problems encountered during school site visits, that being many learners do not have the privileged of bringing a packed lunch to school. This leaves the school in a position of sourcing donations to provide meals for these learners.However, a meal is provided once a week or three at most.
The caring sisters found it necessary to implement a long term solution and launched the CSN Sow and Grow Campaign, providing the school with a fully equipped vegetable garden and tools.
The vegetables harvested will be used in cooking a meal for the children during lunch as well involve and encourage learners to get involved in environmental education and sustainability as well develop responsibility.
The students were happy to learn howto grow plants and vegetables, not only in the classroom, but also through practice. It was a delightful sight to see students taking ownership of their garden. We are hopeful that this exercise will encourage the young students to make use of the skills they have gained and begin planting in their home and their community. Visit us on Facebook –@CSNSowAndGrow.
The Caring Sisters Network looks forward to implementing these programmes at other local schools in the near future.
