Former scribe shining Samaritan
EVERY Friday afternoon drapes are pulled over cheery educational posters and toy-laden shelves at the Rising Sun Daycare in Duncan Village and the shack is transformed from a creche to a church.
And, thanks to former journalist Taralyn McLean, there are now more toys, books and brightly coloured shelves to cover up because she has rallied her Facebook friends to build up much-needed resources at the little school.
McLean, a former Daily Dispatch reporter who also edited the GO! & Express newspaper, said helping the creche fulfilled a long-held leaning to do missionary work.
“I am not a missionary. It’s not like I’m in Uganda giving out blankets, but I am using the skills and talents God gave me right here in my backyard,” she said.
McLean said she had been contacted by Duncan Village resident, Nozie Mswi to write about the centre at the end of December 2015.
“Nozie said she needed help to buy soup and bread for the 30 or so children, but I had left the GO! and was working as a public relations assistant at Merrifield School, so I set up a debit order and sent her money every month.”
A year later McLean decided to donate some of her children’s toys to the Rising Sun.
“That is when I first met Nozie and saw the school. It was very dark and spare with very little colour. Although she had nothing, she was still doing a basic pre-school programme with the children so I put up a Facebook appeal for toys.”
The response was unprecedented and McLean was overwhelmed by positive responses from schools who donated educational posters to individuals who donated money, toys and a large mat which partially covers the cracked and peeling linoleum floor.
“The old lino has sharp edges and the children cut themselves, so we need it to be replaced,” said Mswi, who once worked at a Southernwood daycare and started the creche as a non-profit organisation (NPO) in 2013.
Thanks to her efforts, volunteers from the Logos Hope charitable ship came in and built and painted shelves and when Mswi said she needed a container for extra space, McLean swung into action and raised R12 000 in one week by simply putting out a Facebook request.
“Taralyn has been a lifesaver for this creche,” said Mswi.
“I would not have got this far if it was not for her.”
Because raising money to provide the little ones with a daily meal is a never-ending task, McLean has appealed to East Londoners to dig up their old school ties and blazers and attend a fundraising Back-to-School Disco at the Beacon Bay Country Club on April 22.
● Tickets include dinner and cost R100. Call Taralyn McLean on 082-7225688 to book. —