| “I can see the difference in people's lives,” says Margie Osler, who is responsible for teacher development at Umthombo Wolwazi. She farms in another valley and trains pre-school teachers. Even so, she drives over to Hantam once a month to talk the teachers through their problems. “I would never cut my ties with Hantam,” she says, “children who were not coping before now want to learn. I see light suddenly shine – and in the teachers too.
“What is unusual about this project is that the needs come from the community,” Margie continues. “Even though English is a third language for most people who live here (after Afrikaans and Xhosa), parents chose English as the language of instruction. For Xhosa-speaking teachers, it is a huge task to teach in English.”
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