Congratulations to Ikamva Labantu’s Kwakhanya Preschool Principal, Andiswa Mfengwana, who just completed her degree in Bachelor of Education, Early Childhood Development (ECD) in Foundation Phase at Unisa.
“I went back to school because it has always been my dream to become a qualified teacher and upskill myself and probably get better chances in my career. I believe that if you develop yourself more, you’ll get better chances in life,” says Andi.
Andiswa started working for Ikamva Labantu as a fill-in practitioner for a 2- to 3-year-old class when the teacher was on maternity leave. When she came back in October 2012, Andi was employed as an ECD assistant. In 2013, the organisation wanted a class teacher to teach the 4-to-5-year-old class and Andi was appointed for this position. She later applied for the principal’s position and got the job and was promoted!
“I love working for Ikamva Labantu because it is a community organisation that helps those less fortunate. Coming from a disadvantaged background myself, I like to be part of uplifting people’s lives and changing their situations for the better. Ikamva Labantu gives me the platform to do that. It also provides skills development and gives us a chance to further our studies and better our skills to become more equipped in our fields of work,” she added.
Andiswa worked as a domestic worker before joining Ikamva Labantu. At that time, she was also busy with her ECD level 5 studies at Cape College. She experience many challenges during her studies as well as juggling family responsibility but continued to remain a disciplined and enthusiastic student.
Andiswa would like to be a foundation teacher in a primary school in future or work with the Department of Education as a specialist in educational psychology as she has enrolled for post-grad in psychology.
The Ikamva Labantu family is immensely proud of you, Andiswa! Keep going and growing.
