Celebrating International Women’s Day: A remarkable pre-school principal goes the extra mile to support needy children in her community.
Regardless of the financial implications, pre-school principal Dora Molapo decided to accept vulnerable children from the streets into her school and feed them even if their families can’t afford the school fees.
From the time she was young, Dora was recognized as somebody who loved children and someone whom children loved. When she was at school, kids in the neighbourhood would always want to spend time with her. She would play with them and help them with her homework. Little did she know that these were the foundations of her journey into being a hero to children across Diepsloot.
As a young adult, after some time working as an Early Childhood Development (ECD) practitioner, a mother in the community recognized her passion for children and believed in it so much that she generously gave Dora a building to turn into an pre-school! And instead of taking the gift for herself, she turned it into a gift for others.
“Many parents weren’t working.” said Dora. “Children walking past would cry because they wanted to go to the pre-school as well.” Parents would tell her that they don’t have the money for school fees, but their children wanted to go to the pre-school. “I was struggling but I had to take them in. The little that I had I used to make food for them all. I would pray, asking God to give me the opportunity to help these children.
Then one day she received a knock on her door from a HOPE worldwide field worker inviting her to a training workshop. That eventually led to her receiving food parcels for a year. “This helped me so much because I was able to save the money I would use on food and managed to build a kitchen and a baby’s class, allowing me to have 85 children at the school!
Dora is still allowing children in the community into her school when their families can’t afford it. She is still feeding them in seasons when she can’t afford it. And as we honour Dora and incredible women like her this International Women’s Day, she is still inspiring us at HOPE worldwide SA.
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