Pikkewyntjies / Penguinkidz Pre-School During Lockdown
When the Lockdown came into force, Pikkewyntjies Preschool that is situated in Mooi Uitsig, a low socio community of Betty’s Bay closed its doors - but the feeding scheme had to continue Betty’s Bay is a little town with no industries and therefore relies heavily on subsistence fishing. For one thing, the only food many of our children ever get, is eaten at school and for another it would give the teachers a chance to speak to each child individually to pick up possible neglect or abuse.
To cater for those Pikkewyntjies who do not live in Mooi Uitsig, the school began delivering Spar vouchers to their homes every fortnight.
Barely three days on though, it was clear it was not only the Pikkewyntjies who were hungry but their older siblings and their Moms and Dads too. There are a lot of empty purses in Mooi Uitsig now.
So, the school opened its kitchen to the Mooi Uitsig community in order to feed 250 people and our cook had to stand on a chair to see inside the giant pot. At that point, the Municipality and help from Charmaine Resandt, Wayne Jackson and Fanie Krige, ordering and delivering food daily, boosted the school’s limited supplies.
At the same time, they organized with ASK-IT for a hot-spot in the Community hall that is situated next to the school. ASKT-IT (Nico) organized this for free for the children (Primary and Secondary School) to get their schoolwork via Whatsapp that the teachers are sending through. They received the work and send it through to Juffrou Zaan who then download it and prints it - sometimes as much as 163 pages for one child - and delivers it. In the meanwhile, the Pikkewyntjies kids work are also prepared, printed, and deliver to parents who are from Kleinmond, Lower Betty’s Bay and Pringle Bay.
Pikkewyntjies is a school with a program to turn nice kids into nice adults. When crisis strikes it is harder to take the lead, be the role model but the staff always find the strength.
You cannot visit the school during the lockdown, but look us up on:
