Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
South African Althea Blair is set to fly back home in June to continue making Kalimbeza Nursery School a safe haven, a cause she is putting her heart and soul into with help from Bahrain’s caring community.
The 55-year-old art teacher, who has been living in Bahrain for the past 13 years, first took notice of the nursery in Katima Mulilo in Namibia through her son William, 28, and his South African wife Amy, 25, during a family visit.
“My son and his wife live in Namibia and they own the Muchenje River Lodge on the banks of the Zambezi River,” said the philanthropist living in Al Hajer. “The way it works is that the chief of the region gives you a 99-year lease on the land. Every month, you must pay a certain amount of rent to the chief and include people from that village in your business. Also, it is hoped that you would help the village community.
“William and Amy were approached by the chief to help with various projects such as the nursery school in which they provided food, drinks, chairs and so on for the students graduating on to primary school.
“Thereafter, when approached for more help, he agreed willingly, but asked me to come and see what I could do for this school.”
Althea travelled to Namibia last summer and immediately fell in love with Kalimbeza Nursery School, which educates 39 children.
“The school is very rural and needs a lot of support, but the smiling faces of the children and the friendly, welcoming attitudes of the villagers made me want to help them in any way I can,” she explained.
“Each child pays the equivalent of 500 fils to attend the school every month. It has two rooms and few resources. Two ladies look after the students but neither is a qualified teacher.
“The need for this school is immense as it forms the bridge between the local language of Lozi and English. The children in grade 1 of Primary school learn in English but the home language is Lozi.”
Althea started her efforts by listening to what the two ladies wanted. Firstly, Amy and Althea painted the exterior of the school to make it more ‘nursery-like’.
Next, they tackled the playground. William donated large tractor tyres and his workers helped to cut, prime and paint them. Then they created a large sandpit, climbing tyres and a tyre swing with them, much to the children’s delight.
While Althea’s charitable efforts are currently unregistered, she is hoping to start a not-for-profit organisation in the future.
With contributions from kind-hearted members of Bahrain’s community, she raised BD1,400 of which a portion was used to connect the school to running water.
“They now have a tap in the school,” Althea said. “Although there are no sewage pipes, we constructed much more user-friendly pit latrines. The usual ones are a danger for young children who can easily fall in.
“William and his team came up with an ingenious plan to have a concrete block over the pit connected to a regular toilet. Now there is no danger for the children at all.
“Privacy screens were also erected. Consumable stock was also purchased including paints, pencils, games, puzzles, books, glue and more, as well as plastic chairs and tables. We also helped one learner who was unable to bring his lunch to school due to financial issues at home. Every day, one of the ladies working for William and Amy packs and delivers him lunch. All the costs are paid for by our fundraising efforts.”
Althea will be flying out on June 25 for six weeks with plans to complete painting the exterior as well as the alphabet and numbers in classrooms.
“We will be erecting signage as requested by the community and I will be hosting a few teacher training sessions with the two ladies as well,” she added.
“A second building, which needs renovation, will hopefully begin after being assessed to make it safe and usable.
“I aim to establish a good grounding in the English language and skills as well as make it a safe place for children of the community— a place they can develop a love of learning.”
