{"id":989440,"date":"2025-10-04T06:54:06","date_gmt":"2025-10-04T06:54:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reciprocity.africa\/?page_id=989440"},"modified":"2025-10-08T09:52:56","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T09:52:56","slug":"gealex25-1-thembalethu_community_creche","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/reciprocity.africa\/fr\/gealex25-1-thembalethu_community_creche","title":{"rendered":"GEALEX25-1-Thembalethu_Community_Creche"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"vgblk-rw-wrapper limit-wrapper\">\n<h2>\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/reciprocity.africa\/fr\/lbs-gealex25-welcome\/\" title=\"Welcome\"  target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\tWelcome\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/h2>\n<h2>\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/reciprocity.africa\/fr\/gealex25-about-alex\/\" title=\"About Alex\"  target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\tAbout Alex\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/h2>\n<h2>\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/reciprocity.africa\/fr\/lbs-gealex25-meet-up\/\" title=\"Your Clients\"  target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\tYour Clients\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/h2>\n<h2>\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/reciprocity.africa\/fr\/lbs-gealex25-useful-resources\/\" title=\"Useful Resources\"  target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\tUseful Resources\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/h2>\n<h2>\n\t\t\tGroup 1 &#8211; Nonhlanhla Mngemezulu &#038; Thembalethu Community Creche\t<\/h2>\n\t\t<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/j3BORKJjt88?si=NHbXfEdN6bUN6lQ2\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\t\n\t<p>Some people are born into entrepreneurship &#8211; others are raised by it. For Nonhlanhla Mngomezulu, it was both. Since matriculating, she has never entered formal employment. Instead, she&#8217;s always found a way to earn independently &#8211; from baking to hairstyling to informal trading. But her true calling emerged close to home, within the walls of Thembalethu Community Cr\u00e8che, a daycare founded by her mother, Ethel Mngomezulu, in 1996.<\/p>\n<p>What began as a safe haven for vulnerable children quickly evolved into a structured early learning space serving the community. The cr\u00e8che can care for 67 children (46 were at the creche on the day we interviewed Nonhlanhla), 80% of whom come from households reliant on social grants. With a team of six teachers, two kitchen staff and one principal, Nonhlanhla runs a fully functioning early childhood institution &#8211; one rooted in love, discipline and safety. Laughing warmly, she says, &#8220;I&#8217;ve raised many kids &#8211; some even call me their second mother.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Now that her mother is retired and on pension, Nonhlanhla has stepped up to lead the organisation. But passion alone doesn&#8217;t pay the bills. Her biggest struggle is cash flow &#8211; many parents cannot pay consistently, and rather than turning children away, she and her team often use their own money to keep the daycare running. For them, children&#8217;s safety and development come first, profit second.<\/p>\n<p>Depending on the age of a child, parents are expected to pay between ZAR 400 and ZAR 500 per child per month. As a registered &#8220;early childhood development&#8221; center (ECD). Thembalethu also benefits from financial support from South African Department of Basic Education. Nonhlanhla explained to us that the subsidy is currently six-months late, causing important cash flow issues to the ECD.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the financial strain, Nonhlanhla remains focused on growth rather than survival. Her administrative systems are largely in order &#8211; what she needs now is support. Her vision is to secure ongoing sponsorships and partnerships that can sustain Thembalethu&#8217;s impact long-term. She isn&#8217;t just running a daycare &#8211; she&#8217;s preserving a legacy of community care while building the future of township childhood development.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/reciprocity.africa\/fr\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"  itemprop=\"url\" title=\"LogoReciprocity\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/reciprocity.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/LogoReciprocity.png\" alt=\"LogoReciprocity\" itemprop=\"image\" height=\"65\" width=\"109\" data-link-type=\"url\" title=\"LogoReciprocity\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\"  sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 100vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/reciprocity.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/LogoReciprocity.png 109w, https:\/\/reciprocity.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/LogoReciprocity-18x12.png 18w\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"http:\/\/www.london.edu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"  itemprop=\"url\" title=\"LogoLBS\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/reciprocity.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/LogoLBS.jpg\" alt=\"LogoLBS\" itemprop=\"image\" height=\"72\" width=\"72\" data-link-type=\"url\" title=\"LogoLBS\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\"  sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 100vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/reciprocity.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/LogoLBS.jpg 72w, https:\/\/reciprocity.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/LogoLBS-12x12.jpg 12w\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n<\/div><!-- .vgblk-rw-wrapper -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome About Alex Your Clients Useful Resources Group 1 &#8211; Nonhlanhla Mngemezulu &#038; Thembalethu Community Creche Some people are born into entrepreneurship &#8211; others are raised by it. For Nonhlanhla Mngomezulu, it was both. Since matriculating, she has never entered formal employment. Instead, she&#8217;s always found a way to earn independently &#8211; from baking to&#8230;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-blank.php","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-989440","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reciprocity.africa\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/989440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reciprocity.africa\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reciprocity.africa\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reciprocity.africa\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reciprocity.africa\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=989440"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/reciprocity.africa\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/989440\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":989476,"href":"https:\/\/reciprocity.africa\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/989440\/revisions\/989476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reciprocity.africa\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=989440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}