Meet Our Team
The People That Make Things Happen!
Directors and Staff
Meet the team at the Ubunye Educare Centre…
These are the people dedicated to delivering the highest quality Early Childhood Education and Care to 120 pre-schoolers from Dunoon and the surrounding area, providing them with the necessary developmental skills and knowledge to be accepted into primary schools.
Karin Telo
Founder and Trustee
Karin had a career as director in various businesses and has always had a passion for philanthropy. In 2007 she built the school and gave local people from Dunoon an opportunity to study and work at Ubunye.
She retired in 2017 from business and since then has been responsible for the over sight of fundraising and all other aspects of Ubunye. Her work experience in the business sector has been invaluable in achieving the goals and building a team to meet the objectives set to make the school a success.
Her passion is to see people uplifted and succeed and her time has been spent helping to achieve that.
Wayde Greig
Director
Wayde, has been running a successful business in the area for the last 20 years and has a passion for giving back to the community. His chosen method to ‘give back‘ is as a Director in Ubunye Educare, where he is actively involved in the decision making of running our school.
“The work that Ubunye does is desperately needed in the Dunoon community and their impact in the lives of children is far reaching. Seeing the children learning and moving onto grade 1 successfully and at a very high standard is very rewarding“
Brendan Vadas
Director
Brendan joined Ubunye-Educare in 2019 as a Director and has since guided strategic planning and been responsible for overseeing all financial aspects of the NGO.
After a successful career as an airline pilot, flying for the U.N. and other NGO’s, he decided to change careers and obtained his CFA qualification.
He enjoyed a successful 10 year career in asset management, finishing this chapter of his career as a Chief Investment Officer of a listed company. Brendan also founded Sanford Bluedebosch Investments and is currently a Director of two non-profit organisations in South Africa, both focussing on education.
Esther Cupido
Operational Director
Esther joined Ubunye Educare Centre in 2014. She is the operational director and is responsible for the academic programme, financial planning, fundraising and operational success of the school.
Previous to her education career, Esther was a manageress for a sim-card packaging company for over 20 years. She feels grateful to partner with such an incredible organisation like Ubunye Educare Centre to help every child ignite their personal genius.
Phumelele Nhlapo
Director
Phumelele Nhlapo joined Ubunye Educare in 2022 as a director, prior to this she volunteered at Ubunye for short time in 2015 and has assisted the school to access funding and other resources over the years using her contacts. She continues to do this as a director.
Phumi enjoyed a successful corporate career as a Public Affairs manager before following her heart into the non-profit sector in 2019. She joined the Amy Foundation as After School Programme manager and thereafter became the Chief Operations Officer. She is currently the Chief Operating Officer of the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation. She also serves as a non-executive director on the Board of the Astron Energy Development Fund.
Stefan Nedkoff
Director
Stefan is a security professional with 30 years of experience in both security and operational risk. He holds a BA in Security Administration and multiple diplomas in Government Security, Security Risk Management and Business Management.
He is a member of the Risk Management institute of Australasia, the institute of Risk Management South Africa, ASIS international (Formerly the American Society for Industrial Security) and the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (UK).
Felecia Jones
Principal
Felecia joined Ubunye Educare Centre in 2016. She is responsible for overseeing the management of the centre. She started in 2016 as the school’s administrator and soon moved to vice principal in 2020. Today, she has a much better understanding of the vibrant cultures in the Dunoon community, as well as the running of the school. Facilitating the learning of students, parents and teachers is an exciting experience for her.
Before her career in education, Felecia was a compliance officer for a packaging company. These skills she acquired there, makes her extra vigilant about health and safety in the school environment. The positive changes we make today, will have the most amazing positive ripple effect in the future of the community of Dunoon.
Help us keep our Educators skills up to date
Yes, our Teachers need training too, to keep up with current trends and best practices!
Operational Staff and Teachers
The people that take care of the day-to-day care of our School and Children…
Bukelwa Limba
Teacher
She started at Ubunye in 2007 and is responsible for teaching the children in Class 1.
Thembisa Dyasi
Teacher
She started at Ubunye in 2007 and is responsible for teaching the children in Class 2.
Ntombekhaya Ntshanyana
Teacher
She started at Ubunye in 2012 and is responsible for teaching the children in Class 3.
Xolelwa Bhebhi
Teacher
She started at Ubunye in 2021 and is responsible for teaching the children in Class 4.
Beatrice Mtati
School Cook
Is our school Cook and she is responsible for the kitchen and feeding our children.
John Jarvis
Maintenance (Caretaker)
John Started at Ubunye in 2022 and is responsible for the upkeep of our school.
