Tucked away in the heart of Mfuleni township, 20 minutes out of Cape Town, some young children could hardly contain their excitement. It had been quite a long wait but at last on Friday 7th August, it was nearly time. As we made our way towards the classroom door of the Little Stars Educare, we could hear the chanting, “Tablets, Tablets” and then giggles. Peeping round the door wide eyes met us with absolute delight. Waiting patiently as we handed over the tablets to the Principal, Poulina Ponoane, the children could hardly contain themselves. As we popped the box on the table, lots of little children craned their necks to get the first look.
Noms, our field worker and the visiting principals helped Poulina to set out the tables, place the little wedges down and put the tablets in front of the children. In no time at all, the tablets were on and the children were on their way. In the blink of an eye, the little fingers were swishing across the screens, there were ‘oohs’ and ‘Ahhs’ as they deftly placed fruit into the fridge on the kitchen app and they were completely engrossed. The children waiting their turn, helped and abetted their classmates and there was such a beautiful atmosphere of camaraderie and fun.
It had been a team effort, Margaret, from Home Choice Development Trust who had donated the Tablets, Alister from Cloud Computing who had helped to create the partnerships that resulted in beaming the internet from our Hub School, Kissmea from GISA, the Starting Chance team, the Little Stars team had all played their part. Little Stars was now a connected educare with access to the world.
As we watched the children and the principals and the immense joy and fun that was happening around us, we had a communal hug and Friday 7th August felt like an extra special day. What a brilliant Starting Chance for these children.
Awesome!!!!! Congrats Starting Chance. I am so proud of the work you do.