Build The Future currently operates in two areas of South Africa, Johannesburg and KwaZulu-Natal. Near Johannesburg, they run a feeding program in Soweto and a preschool in the informal settlement of Kya Sand. The preschool has around 100 students and serves students through kindergarten.
In KZN, Build The Future runs multiple preschools and other projects, including a teaching garden to grow agricultural skills, a commercial farming project, bee hives, several micro-entrepreneur start-ups and multiple community development projects with plans for more!
Build the Future’s container preschools are their “foot-in-the-door” to the community. Not only do they get these young, often vulnerable children off the street, where they feed them three times a day and provide early childhood learning, but they also hire their teachers and staff from the community, providing jobs. They offer opportunities to their preschool teachers to become trained and certified, providing a path for career advancement and higher salaries.
They serve the school-age children in their communities, often feeding them on school holidays, provide homework support centers, and weekend programs. Where possible, Build the Future partners with the local primary schools, creating mutually beneficial and reciprocal relationships. They also support the parents of their preschoolers, creating opportunities to volunteer to help with tuition and attend educational events just for them.
They have gardens that provide food for the schools. Particularly in Ndwedwe, Build the Future is a training ground for people in the community to come to learn and become certified in growing food, not only to sustain themselves but also to allow them to provide an income for their families. And the sharing of knowledge continues to grow, those that become trained then teach others how to garden. Community farming begins.