On the 24th January 2015 Maru-a-Pula students set out to deliver ‘Bundles of Brightness’ to the poverty stricken children of Maboane and Malwelwe. Accompanying the group for her second visit was the Reverend Linda Tarry-Chard of the Riverside Church in Harlem, New York. The church is a major donor to the Project People Foundation, a non-profit organisation (established by the Reverend in1995) that provides assistance to children in rural Southern Africa.
Over the past year, alumni Ms Caroline Desai and MaP students have been working with Project People Foundation to bring about change in Botswana. Bundles of Brightness has been implemented in Botswana through Operation Starfish, a charity division run by Ms Desai that carries out various other projects in this country.
This trip holds significant importance. As noted by Ms. Desai, “Reverend Linda has come back from New York, having piloted last year with Malwelwe, saying let’s take another village. That’s a huge change. It means she’s giving us another go.”
The first stop was at Maboane, the new village taken up by the Bundles of Brightness group, situated 60 km north of Jwaneng. MaP students were welcomed by speeches, after which Ketlelo Moapare, a current sixth form MaP student, delivered a motivational speech about having come from a similar situation to the children of the village. Part of the San tribe from the Kalahari, Ketlelo grew up an orphan and was raised by his grandmother. His story is evidence that it is possible to excel in school and make it out of the village. “It is so important for the children to have a role model,” he said on the way to Mabaone. “They need someone who can give them hope.”
MaP students implemented the first phase of the project by providing the students of Maboane Primary School with school bags and uniforms. The aim is to improve attendance and academic performance as students now obtain a new uniform, and often their first pair of shoes.
After a further one-hour drive the bus arrived at Malwelwe Primary School where the MaP students were greeted warmly by hundreds of smiling faces in their prized uniforms. “It’s almost unbelievable, the transition from a year ago,” said Rev Tarry-Chard. “The students weren’t as alive, they weren’t as bright and clearly they didn’t have the clothing. To be a part of that distribution and to see the children receive the uniform, and then to come a year later and to see them so neatly dressed… it’s very, very rewarding.” In addition to uniforms, MaP students also distributed 188 solar lamps to each family unit in July 2014, funded by the Project People Foundation.
Once again, Ketlelo delivered an encouraging speech which was met with promises to work harder and achieve better grades. Food packages were then distributed consisting of maize meal, a loaf of bread and water. Some hungrily tore open the packets and began eating the bread while others carefully packed it away in their cherished schoolbags. The school was also gifted 2,000 pencils.
The Principal of Malwelwe Primary School, Mr Molefabangwe, beamed at the positive impact the project is having. “There has been an increase in school size from 432 to 510,” he says. “Learners are coming to school every day, they are ambitious.” He explains that there has been a decrease in truancy by fifty percent and improvement in grades. “Many students have now pushed from E to D and from a D to C. We are driving.” Malwelwe has also introduced an elderly learning programme, giving those of old age a chance to go back school.
This transformation has also occurred in other countries such as South Africa, where the project is ongoing. “Students are more eager to come to school; they have the lamps so they can read at night and do their homework. Prior to that they were unable to do so. So this way there has been an impact, a positive one because of attendance, because of grades and just because of overall morale,” said Rev Tarry-Chard.
With the success of the project in Malwelwe, the next step is to start a village empowerment scheme that will generate income to buy essentials. This, however, has proved challenging. “It’s incredibly difficult because there’s no resources out here. There’s nothing,” explained Ms Desai. “We’re researching various options at the moment. We are looking at a specific plant that grows indigenously here that doesn’t need water which can be used to make jams.” The goal is to make the community self-sufficient and the village wealthier. Apart from this, the group also plans to start another project called ‘Bundles of the Future’ which will give secondary school support packages to those students who have done well.
As the bus drove out the children walked alongside waving their customary goodbye. “It is so important that we come together and work as a team, regardless of our differences in faith,” Rev Tarry-Chard said, smiling at the students. “We are equal.”
~ text and images by Aaliyah Mussa
from top : A Mabaone mother and child carrying their new uniform; Operation Starfish members wait to hand out maize meal; Ketlelo Moapare talks to the children of the village; Rev Tarry-Chard and Mr Molefabangwe; A Malwelwe child with her food parcel