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The Vuleka School

Vuleka Means “To Open Up, To Enlighten”

Bill and Kay with Janet Saner in a computer lab

One of D's drawings

The vegetable patch and worm farm

St-Martin's-in-the-Veld—where it all started

In May, Bill and I followed in the footsteps of Mary Marshall and Richard Levy and Pat and Lee Preston to see first-hand the remarkable consequences of an Anglican congregation's decision to address a major problem facing their country's young democracy. The place, Johannesburg, South Africa. The problem, lack of access to a first-rate education for black children. The solution, start a school and house it in the church's Sunday school classrooms. If you heard the sermon Martha gave when she was with us in June, you'll have some idea of the impact of that decision on the life of that faith community.

Our host for our visit to the Vuleka School, Janet Saner, took us to three of the now eight venues that house pre-school, primary school (through grade 7), and special needs classes. We were charmed each time we walked into a classroom and were greeted by the children speaking together, saying “Good morning Mrs. Saner and visitors. We are happy to see you.” These children live in the townships where unemployment is high, poverty is deep, and the schools are poor. Some of the children are AIDS orphans. Others have been abused and traumatized. The classes are small, the instruction is in English, the teaching staff is dedicated and well-trained. Each year many graduating students are granted scholarships by some of the best private schools in the area.

Two of the venues have fully-equipped computer labs and all the teachers have been trained on how to use them for instruction. We were proud that our 2007 Pentecost offering, which was designated for the Vuleka School, helped in equipping one of the labs. We were also pleased that this year's Pentecost offering is also designated for the Vuleka School. The US dollar is still rather strong in South Africa. Our 2007 gift of around $3,000 translates to R22,285. This year's Pentecost offering of around $2,125, or R17,000, had not yet been tallied when we were in South Africa, but we were happy to know that it would arrive shortly and be put to good use.

Vuleka started in 1989 with 59 children in 4 classes housed in the Sunday School rooms at St-Martin's-in-the-Veld Church. At the end of that year, 21 children were placed in private schools. Today, Vuleka has over 560 children in 27 classes, at eight venues. The children are welcomed into state and private schools when they are ready to leave. Thinking strategically, Vuleka is further expanding its reach through new initiatives to train black teachers who can go on to teach in schools in Johannesburg and beyond.

Some Vuleka Stories

A is a new orphan at Vuleka. He is five years old. His great-granny does 'piece work' and is a part time domestic worker for pensioners. She earns just over R1,000 a month but she does have a room in the sky close by, on top of the apartments where she works. The aunt with whom the child was staying now has senile dementia and there was nowhere else for him to go. All Vuleka classes were full but Vuleka is the only place he can come to school. So one Vuleka classroom is a little fuller and the Vuleka Orphans Fund a little emptier.

B doesn't know whether she is an orphan or not. She is a refugee who has been separated from her parents and lives in a children's home. No one understands or speaks her mother tongue. A year later, she can communicate well in English…and read…and finally maths makes sense. Her joy as she managed all these was infectious. She still faces problems but her teacher, the Head and the social worker are there when the wheels fall off.

C is also a refugee of a kind. He has been sent from Zimbabwe by his wider family to his parents who have work permits in South Africa. Life in Zimbabwe is just too difficult for extra mouths to feed. He has no skills and no English. The Zimbabwean education system, once a model for the rest of Africa, has collapsed, along with the economy, as teachers have left in droves. Vuleka is able to take him in, going back to the techniques honed when we were a bridging school.

D is a new boy in one of our higher grades. He had been abandoned by his parents and an uncle took him in. His uncle is a gardener. One of his employers offered to pay for him to attend Vuleka, but only for one year unless he proved to be worth sponsoring. He has all sorts of emotional and social issues as well as a poor academic background at his previous school. He had no self-confidence at all. A volunteer art teacher introduced him to painting—and this child has been transformed. He has found his gift and a metier for self expression. His marks have shot up.

F is in Grade 2. She has bilharzia. Her father died last year. Her mother was pregnant and on unpaid maternity leave. The teacher was able to send home a message: “Don't worry—we will send home a weekly food parcel. The Vuleka Chairman's Fund will pay for the school fees for the rest of the year. Our staff will see that your daughter is treated for bilharzia.” When the mother came to the first parents' meeting this year, she expressed her enormous gratitude for being given the breathing space—she was now back at work as a caterer and able to care properly for her two children.

G is one of eighteen children at St Mark's Vuleka who has discovered the joy of gardening by working in the tunnel. Like his friends, he shows a daily interest in what is happening to the vegetables grown there: bringing vegetable peelings from home for the worm farm, collecting and using the fertiliser from the worms, planting and watering and picking the crop. He has taken seed to plant at home in Diepsloot where he has dug his own vegetable patch.

This report, written by Kay Gilcher, is taken from the August 2008 Celtic. For more information, visit the Vuleka School website.