Zama Montessori Centre, located in Benoni, Johannesburg, SA has served a community that has always struggled with challenges related to poverty.   Using the Montessori education model, Zama Montessori Centre has aimed to serve the needs of its community by creating a safe haven, where the children are supported, their developmental needs are met holistically in an environment that promotes peace, nurturing the human spirit and developing common community values.  Many of the children who have entered its doors have surmounted their circumstances and made inroads into breaking the cycle of poverty.

Zama has run a range of projects over the years aimed at supporting family life, and extending the reach of Montessori education to many adults and children. These have included support and training of preschool teachers, mentoring of Montessori teachers in South Africa and neighboring countries, parent education, home-based programs, travelling libraries, soup kitchens and food gardens. The school itself gets used as an observation center by established teachers as well as teachers in training.

Because the community it serves is woefully under-resourced, Zama charges only nominal fees, with a sizable percentage of children being admitted because of their need and sadly, unable to pay even these nominal fees. During its existence, Zama has been able to accommodate orphans, children from child-headed homes or reared by grandparents, or children who struggle with mainstream setting.  It has successfully established a record and reputation of inclusivity.  It has accomplished all these services by carefully husbanding its resources over the decades.

Prior to the start of the pandemic, Zama Montessori Centre planned to train a new elementary Montessori teacher who would carry on the work of Bukelwa Selema, the founder and who is well beyond retirement age.  It had carefully marshaled its finances to cover the costs of this training.  But the pandemic wrecked havoc with those plans.  Families lost their jobs and could not pay even the nominal school fees.  Donors were also negatively impacted in that many were forced to reduce their donations or forego donations altogether.  To keep its 3-12 classrooms open, Zama made the difficult decision to use those training funds.

At the same time, it was critical that the teacher in training, Tshidi, complete her course and write her exams to ensure continuity for the Centre.  This meant finding the funding covering the fees at the AMI Indaba training center in Stellenbosch, SA about 850 miles to the southwest, her transportation to and from Indaba, room and board and local transportation.

This is where MGGF made the difference.  We funded the costs for Tshidi’s tuition, room and board plus transportation.  It’s been a challenge for her.  Listen to her tell us about her progress.   We’re pleased to report that she is teaching at the elementary level at Zama Montessori Centre.