There were only about 30 children left attending at the time, as parents were struggling to afford fees. Because of Covid-19 restrictions, the KET volunteers could not visit the preschool. Instead, they rallied up a focused support group to personally donate money which bought food for the children attending, supplemented with vegetables from the Melrose House garden. While e’Pap supplied their nutritious breakfast, Knysna’s community ensured that the children also had a cooked, healthy meal at lunch.
During this time, KET’s registration team intervened with principal and governing body mentoring, training and support to equip those involved in the preschool to run it sustainably. Principal Nolwethu recognised the need to start a baby room and people generously made and donated cots. An extra room was organised and new windows were put in so that it was suitable for babies.
Another significant project was the playground, which was falling apart and not safe for the children to play on. Volunteer Moyra organised for Knysna Leisure Industries to support the rebuild of the jungle gym, while Craig Smith transported the wood and lent his tools so that James Smith from BBraun Medical Products together with Angelo Goede, KET’s maintenance and gardener, could fix the jungle gym. This made a huge difference to the children’s outdoor playtime. BBraun also donated a brand new sign for outside.
