[LISTEN] NGO builds first private girls school in the township of Khayelitsha

Chairperson of Thope Foundation Xolisa Guzula chats about the process of building a private school in the township.

You might have seen reports of the first private girls school to open in Khayelitsha, or read about how Thope Foundation is actively contributing in their society? Molo Mhlaba is giving the youth tools to assist them succeed in their quest for education.

In this segment of South Africans Doing Great things, Gugu chats to the Chairperson of Thope Foundation, Xolisa Guzula about the strenuous process of building a school, and how Molo Mhlaba came to be.

When it comes to South Africa’s ailing education system, few would argue that not much is being done around this epidemic, but as pupils returned to schools across the country, a small number of children in a Cape Town township stepped through the doors of a new school.

Molo Mhlaba is the first private girls’ school in the township of Khayelitsha. With its brightly painted classrooms, and book shelves which feature the work of prominent authors like Zakes Mda, Molo Mhlaba is the ideal space for pupils to work their creative muscles.

Not to mention science books by Stephen Hawking which have been translated into Xhosa, and stethoscope’s hanging on a dress-up rack, the school also explores the logical world of Science.

Chairperson of Thope Foundation Xolisa Guzula says that building Molo Mhlaba was an extensive and challenging process. She adds that she has been working in the field of education for a long time.

Guzula says that as a social worker, you would see all sorts of problems in the community. We found that it was difficult to make changes in other people’s territory adds Guzula.

You see these problems and want to address them but there are humongous.

Xolisa Guzula, Chairperson of Thope Foundation

Some of us have worked in different NGO’s, and have tried to make a difference.

Xolisa Guzula, Chairperson of Thope Foundation

Guzula says that Thope Foundation has been around since 2013 and luckily, they had a principal who supported them with their after school programmes. We realised that in an enabling environment, we function as a school and that’s when we decided to start a school says Guzula.

Click on the link below to hear the full interview…

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