In July 2017 Masoala Forest Lodge opened a pre-school for 3-5 year olds from the area.
It all started when Pierre and I were looking for a pre-school for our own children Salma (4) and Charlie (2). We chatted to the mothers in the village to find out what there were doing an found out that there was a primary school already, bt no pre-school. Everyone was very keen to have one though.
We wrote a letter to the responsables in the nearby town to find ou what would be involved in opening a pre-school. Needed was a letter signed by the village chief that quoted that the villagers are interested.
We got the permission to use one of the already existing school building that were financed by the Zoo Zuerich a view years back. The perfect set up; simple and nicely done!
we agreed that everything but the building would be organised and financed by Masoala Forest Lodge.
The search for a teacher began and it didn’t take long unil we found the perfect candidate with teacher Genevieve! Ninize, who looked after Salma before became asistent. A person who naturaly loves kids and equaly is loved by children for her patience and positive attitude.
My mother, who is a teacher in Germany visited at the time when we were preparing the opening. She made suggestions regarding the daily routine and gave wonderfull ideas how to entertain the children.
If you are interested to see more images and would like to know how a day in our pre-school usualy goes, have a look at our August post.
Lots of love, Maria