More than 40 people, including Italian Consul Emanuele Pollio, members of the local Italian community and overseas visitors, attended a fund-raiser at a Newlands restaurant in aid of a project to build a township preschool.
Friends of Thandolwethu, a non-profit organisation, was established to support the preschool project in Samora Machel, and the organisation celebrated its fifth anniversary at the fund-raiser on Sunday September 8.
According to Annalisa Contrafatto, the organisation’s chairwoman, two Samora Machel community leaders, Mzi Ndzuzo and Sbosh Mepeni, decided to establish a preschool inspired by the Reggio Emilia teaching method after visiting Italy on an exchange programme in 2017.
The teaching method, which promotes student-centred, experiential learning, was developed after World War II by Loris Malaguzzi and parents in the villages around the northern Italian city of Reggio Emilia.
The proceeds from the fund-raiser will be used to get the pre-school project off the ground.