School deploys tractor to transport young learners

The Mayana Mpora Foundation’s Ingrid Poike Pre-Primary School in the Kavango East Region has introduced a creative solution by making use of a tractor and trailer to transport preschoolers and staff to and from school.

Ingrid Poike, responsible for the school’s fundraising, sponsorships and administrative matters, told Namibian Sun that the tractor picks up and drops off 43 children and about 10 adults from Monday to Friday.

“The children are picked up in the morning and brought back in the afternoon after school. We have another bus with a trailer, but it has some issues at the moment. This is why we use the tractor. Considering the area of Mayana is about 10 to 15 km in length, it is the only mode of transport that operates daily,” Poike said.

Without the transport, the young children would have to walk several kilometres every day, sometimes barefoot, through difficult terrain.

Every day, “the little ones gather at the location of a preschool teacher and are picked up from there by the school bus with a self-built trailer, [and taken] to the preschool and brought back in the afternoon. A year ago, the children had to walk up to 80 minutes one way,” she added.

Daily meals

Poike highlighted that donations received by the school are primarily used to cater for preschoolers and grade one to twelve learners.

She said last year, over 40 children aged four to six joined the pre-primary school, and 34 completed it in November 2023.

“We sent 18 children off to primary school. In the first week of January, families can register their youngest children again. We can accommodate a maximum of 40 children,” she said.

“The children didn’t know the term breakfast until the first day of school. At home, if available, there is only one meal a day: mielie pap or corn porridge. After the first breakfast, the lessons begin with cheerful singing. Between the four lessons, the children receive a drink and a fruit meal and can play in the playground, which has been around for a long time (2009) to frolic around,” she said.

“At the end of class, the children change back into their home clothes and receive corn porridge with gravy and/or vegetables for lunch. The children love macaroni. Families are required to pay N$20 per month. Most families who cannot afford this usually come to the preschool to help out in the garden,” she said.

Strong foundations

The Mayana Mpora Foundation school was founded in 2007.

The pre-primary school was launched the next year, in 2008, and at first consisted of a corrugated iron structure, which unfortunately fell victim to strong storms and floods.

The first two stone buildings for the school were then built and expanded every year.

"We are proud of our sanitary building, with showers and toilets, with solar and electrically heated water containers,” she said, adding that the school’s next big project will be a community centre, “which we build with the help of a Swiss association. This centre will include a medical aid centre, a library, a soup kitchen and a meeting room,” she said.

Proud successes

Poike said the school supports more than 100 students in grades one to 12 each year and also currently supports a fourth-year teacher-student and a second-year mining engineer student.

“Our association can boast several successes, including two doctors, a qualified engineer in mechanical engineering, a chemist with a teaching qualification, a pharmacist, a banker, a social worker, an auto electrician and some teachers. However, the teachers have not been able to find work in their profession in the Kavango Region for two years,” she said.

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