More than 40 children are cared for in the Zama Educare centre in Du Noon.
From the street, the modest building in Dunoon, Cape Town, is nondescript, with only a small sign outside. But inside, children are singing counting songs and the smell of a home-cooked meal comes from the kitchen, where the cook is stirring a large pot for lunch. This is the Zama Educare Early Childhood Development (ECD) centre, where more than 40 children are cared for by Thulani Bashe and her staff.
Snack time at Zama Educare means fruit and yoghurts, shared in a circle by giggling toddlers and preschoolers. A teacher walks around making sure everyone has something to eat. There are boxes of toys in the corners of the room.
The centre is registered as a non-profit organisation, but it is not yet registered with the Department of Social Development as an ECD, so does not receive a government subsidy.
The ECD subsidy, currently R24 per child per day, is meant to cover meals, staff stipends and learning materials. Without the subsidy, Bashe relies on fees to cover food, electricity and gas, and the salaries of her five staff members, including a cook who prepares breakfast and lunch for the children.
The crèche charges a fee of R800 a month for younger children and R700 a month for older children and is open from Monday to Friday.
She gets donations of food from local supermarkets and some parents volunteer to help with administration and paperwork.
“I am barely left with anything at the end of the month. The subsidy would help a lot,” Bashe says.
Bashe started the centre in a single room in her RDP house. As the number of children in her care grew, someone donated a shipping container. Eventually, donors came together to construct the modest building which she works in today. She and her family still live there.
She is still completing the paper work for her application for the subsidy. “I had all the paperwork before, but after building the new structure I had to start from scratch. They want building plans, and I am in and out of meetings,” she says.
Bashe left her job as a domestic worker to complete a Diploma in Early Childhood Education at college. “I didn’t want to just babysit the children, I wanted to learn how to teach them,” she says.
Her own parents died when she was young, and she was sent to live with relatives. She often missed school because they could not afford to support her. She also faced abuse within the family. “I know what it is like to grow up without love and protection. That is why I want to make sure children here experience something different.”
She says Dunoon’s overcrowding and high rates of crime and substance abuse make children particularly vulnerable.
Lorraine Nyani, whose two-year-old attends Zama Educare, said she chose the centre because it is “safe and very clean”. She said her daughter had become confident and was learning colours, counting and could now speak English and IsiXhosa.
“It gives me peace of mind knowing they care for my child,” said Nyani.
Bashe hopes someone can help paint the building to make it more welcoming. “I would love the outside and classrooms to be bright, with shapes and animals,” she says.
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