Our Work

Ikhaya Labantwana Montessori (ILM) was selected as our very first official Kamvalethu Project Partner in 2015. ILM is a project of Sustainable Coffee Bay (SCB) and is located in Coffee Bay, Eastern Cape. Several of the surrounding villages have been identified as some of the poorest areas in the country. As a former homeland of South Africa and having endured a deliberate policy of under investment during apartheid, the area still suffers from an extremely low socio-economic status.

The Principals Academy equips principals who head up schools in under-resourced communities with tools they need to steer their schools towards becoming centres of excellence.

We partnered with Mr. Keith Richardson, retired principal from Wynberg Boys High School and Mr. Halbert Mlindazwe, principal at Bongalethu Primary School in Phillipi for a three year process, which began in 2016. The school has grown in leaps and bounds from installing a new library (together with Kamvalethu), improving their systemic test scores, and improving understanding of how data is used to improve systems within the school.

The Bulungula Incubator’s mission is to be a catalyst in the creation of vibrant and sustainable rural communities. They work with community members from conception to career with an integrated development strategy in education, health and nutrition and sustainable livelihoods. All projects are designed, prioritised, implemented and managed in partnership with the community and through traditional and elected leadership structures. Through the years we have supported a number of initiatives with BI such as an online numeracy and literacy programme; helping to establish their college; their birth to 3 years programme and most recently Covid-19 relief efforts.

We believe that reading by grade 4 is the critical skill to address, the skill upon which all other skills depend. In a country where 78% of children cannot read for meaning in any language (PIRLS, 2016), the situation is dire. To encourage a love of reading among children, they need to have access to books which spark curiosity and adventure. This is why we have worked with several Project Partners (The Bookery, Common Good, Jabulani and The Otto Foundation) in co-funding and establishing five libraries in under-resourced areas.