The donation of a water borehole to a struggling pre-school that caters for more than 100 children brought a smile to the faces of both the children and their caretakers.

The Waterval Pre-school recently officially received a borehole from the Kutama Sinthumule Correctional Centre (KSCC). “KSCC have answered our request in a positive way,” the chairperson of the school governing body, Mr Sipho Khoza, said. “We had suffered for many years without water. So we decided to knock on the door of KSCC for help, and they helped us.”

The pre-school had been without water since it was established 21 years ago. The lack of water from the public taps also meant that they had to either ask for some water or buy from their neighbour, who had a borehole. It was difficult for the neighbour to provide water for them all the time since the pre-school needs a huge water supply each day. The pre-school, which is more of a crèche, currently has children from three months up to five years old. The pre-school has functional indoor flush toilets, all of which make use of a huge amount of water.

The director of KSCC, Mr Lazarus Ncongwane, said that the situation of the lack of water at the pre-school had deeply touched them. They drove to the pre-school and assessed the situation.

“We decided to donate the borehole to the pre-school, on condition that they become self-sufficient,” he said. “We have agreed with them that they will make a vegetable garden where they will cultivate veggies for themselves. We want to believe that the pre-school can do more on their own, now that they have water readily available at their place.”

KSCC had spent around R30 000 for the water project at the pre-school. Ncongwane expressed his appreciation and pleasure during his visit to the pre-school, when he noted that they had started with the garden.

“We will extend this field and plant more vegetables and spinach,” said Khoza. “We will not only do this to fulfil the condition, but because the garden will help us minimise the need to purchase vegetables.”

The pre-school still faces a number of challenges, including the need for a television set, ground-filling in front the class to avoid a situation where rainwater stays there for days, and children's books.