I am Simtholile Mthembu. I am 9 years old. I love school and going to Thanda… I enjoy the books we read at Thanda; Tidy is my favorite. I like the fact that the book ends with the badger getting help from his friends to put things back to the way they were. My favorite thing in my life is having friends. I want to be a police offer when I grow up.

Meet Simtholile, a member of the Thanda After-school Programme’s Class of 2030! Through the implementation of our Creative Learning Curriculum, which disrupts traditional, ineffective, education models, we are supporting Simtholile and children like him in their ability to learn, grow and lead in their lives and in their communities. We would like you to get to know our community more, so below are excerpts taken from interviews with Simtholile and his After-school Facilitator, Janet.

“I am Simtholile. I am 9 years old. I love school and going to Thanda! I enjoy the books we read at Thanda; “Tidy” is my favourite. I like the fact that the book ends with the badger getting help from his friends to put things back to the way they were. I also enjoy interacting with all the children and all the events we have at Thanda! I like that we sing together, and get to watch the other children sing and dance as well. My favourite thing in my life is having friends. When I grow up, I want to be a police officer!”

Janet, Simtholile After-School Facilitator

“When I first met Simtholile, he wasn’t serious about his school work and he had a tough time communicating with me. He also used to bully the other children; it seems like he had anger stored up inside.

With time, he’s been able to open up and talk about things, and the more he’s done that, the better his attitude has gotten and the more he’s enjoying being around other children. He is now the one who wants to help handout exercises or share his stationary, and he’s quick to understand instruction and actually volunteer to help the class.

As Simtholile grows, I want to continue to encourage him to be more honest with himself and others about who he is and how he feels, because that will give him peace with his environment. With this peace comes the ability to feel confident in expressing oneself, recognise personal strengths, think independently, and ultimately, flourish.”

To meet some of Simtholile’s other classmates and learn more about how you can support the class of 2030 to learn, grow, and lead visit our Class of 2030 post here.