My name is Vuyani Ngcobo. I am 6 years old. I love everything about Thanda. My favorite book is Spiderman, I wish I could help people like he does and be as strong as he is. I love my community… When I grow up I want to be a Soldier. If I could give back to the community in any way, I would build more houses and taps.

Meet Vuyani, 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 Vuyani 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 Vuyani, his After-school Facilitator, Noma, and his guardian, Nomusa.

“My name is Vuyani Ngcobo. I’m 6 years old. I love everything about Thanda! My favorite book is “Spiderman”. I wish I could help people like he does and be as strong as he is, so when I grow up I want to be a soldier. I love my community because this is where we get our food and water! If I could give back to the community in any way, I would build more houses and water taps. My favourite food to eat from Thanda is rice and chicken!”

Noma, Vuyani’s After-school Facilitator

“Vuyani is a very bubbly child, he smiles a lot, and he just loves people. He has always been a sweet, very empathetic child. If something bad happens to another child, even if it doesn’t involve him, he will come tell me or intervene in some way. He sees himself as older than the other children, he has this big brother “I will protect you” attitude. It’s probably because of how much he loves Spiderman.

I think I have special moments with Vuyani every day because he’s always so present; he helps me offload the daily meal from the Thanda car, he helps me hand out art supplies, he even helps me dish up for the children – he’s a very big help! He still struggles with being patient with his work though, he’s always in a rush to finish. If there was a piece of advice I would give Vuyani, it would be for him to continue being the kind and loving person that he is and for him to aim high and keep the right role models for himself, because he has the potential to be what he admires the most.”

Nomusa Ngcobo, Vuyani’s Grandmother

“Vuyani was born in an urban city hospital, but he’s lived here since he was a little less than a year old. He lives here with me and his older brother. He loves going to Thanda and he really loves showing me how he’s been doing there; he brings back the work he’s done and tells me about what they’ve been learning about.

I encourage him and his brother to go to Thanda because they learn things there that they won’t get the chance to learn at school. There are also things they gain from going to Thanda, like the meals they get there. I love Thanda for being able to nurture our children when we aren’t there. They even ask permission to take the child to the clinic if they aren’t feeling well. The fact that they can see how the children are really doing and take their best interests to heart shows me how much they pay attention to the child. It’s sad that the child will leave home and go to school for almost the whole day, and their teachers won’t even bother about the wellbeing of the child; when they finally go to Thanda, only then do they get the attention they need.

I hope Thanda continues to teach our children in the way that they have been doing so far. In that, I can stand tall and say I vouch for Thanda and the positive impact they’ve been making in this community. I hope they continue to grow and get even better!”

To meet some of Vuyani’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.