Former city girl needs help to build a classroom for village children

Sarah Beth McAdam left Cape Town to move to a tiny village in the former Transkei seven years ago‚ where she has found happiness. Now she wants to give back to the community which embraced her.

Originally from Muizenberg‚ she visited Rhini Village in Coffee Bay as a tourist. She fell in love with one of the residents‚ Nhaza Ndevu‚ and they got married.

Qualified as a Montessori teacher‚ McAdam wants to teach English to the children in her village. She home schools her daughter but they would need a building for the rest of the children.

“After school‚ we get a group of kids who interact with us mainly from my daughter’s room‚” she said.

She is pleading with South Africans to help raise R40‚000 to build a classroom for an afterschool programme.

McAdam told TimesLIVE on Tuesday she was happy about the R5‚177 she has managed to raise so far through crowd funding website BackaBuddy.

“We have only had it up for about a week or so ... it’s seems like it’s getting quite a bit of exposure. It would be nicer if we get some bigger donations but I am happy with the support at the moment‚” said McAdam.

McAdam said her plan is to use a family owned piece of land at the village to build the class. She has spoken with the chief of the village to inform him about the plan.

“We are going to get ahead with the building as soon as we get more money together‚” said McAdam.

Children would attend free of charge but she hopes to secure further donations for furniture and for the upkeep of the building.

McAdam is targeting pupils between grades 1 to 5 who are struggling with English.

“After (school) hours‚ we will be able to rotate about 10 children a month so in the end most of the children will have exposure in the classroom‚” she said.