Wind Farm builds a creche for Eurekaville and supports local enterprises

The official launch of the newly built Eurekaville Crèche, funded by Noupoort Wind Farm included guests from the Department of Social Development and Department of Education, as well as shareholders of Noupoort Wind Farm.

“This new ECD centre is the first stage of developing a child in their early stages providing a building block to better performance in schooling and general preparations for schooling. This facility fulfils an educational purpose and provides safety and security in a controlled environment,” said Honourable Mayor Mzwandile Toto, of Umsobomvu Municipality.

The new crèche has the capacity to take care of 200 children and is built on rezoned community land that was made available by the local municipality. Open to children between the ages of 2-6 years, doors are now open, welcoming youngsters from the local community and specifically Vrolike Vinkies crèche.

A secure communal park has also been donated by the Wind Farm, situated alongside the crèche, to provide a place of play, an essential component for any community.

Noupoort Wind Farm’s socio-economic development programmes also builds Early Childhood Development (ECD) capacity and supports ECD practitioner training.  This is to ensure that ECD centres, such as the Eurekaville Crèche are well managed and provide quality education to young children, helping to prepare them for formal schooling.

“Public Private Partnerships of this nature ensure that communities truly benefit both now and well into the future and ensure that our socio-economic development programme is impactful and robust,” said Noupoort Wind Farm’s Economic Development Manager Sandiswe Mntonintshi.

Boosting local enterprise development, Noupoort Wind Farm opted to use a local ‘woman-owned’ building contractor, Ferieda Magdalene Kei, to manage the construction of this community project.  This is a key component of the new-build, which managed to positively benefit twenty local Noupoort households, directly.  “Our team comprised of three bricklayers, sixteen labourers and a driver, in addition to a local plumbing sub-contractor,” explained Mrs Kei.

Furthermore the Eurekaville Crèche has been built using bricks that are manufactured by a local brick manufacturing SMME, Sandawana Brick Manufacturing Company.  This fledgling enterprise has been receiving support from Noupoort Wind Farm’s development programme and is now able to provide full-time employment to five local men and has just purchased its third brick-making machine.

Earlier this year, Noupoort Wind Farm donated a library and computer centre to the local primary school. This entailed converting a previously unused classroom into a lively and engaging environment that is now a haven for young learners.