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" I love coming to Brownies, we always try new things and have lots of fun. "
"Khayelihle" - The Care Centre
The Care Centre
"Khayelihle" is a care centre, caring for nearly one hundred children at the latest count. The centre is based around an old farmhouse. The orphans are organised into smaller units of six children with one foster mother. Siblings are kept together, and those with no family are added on to make up numbers. These family units provide a safe environment in which the children care for each other. Within this loving and relaxed atmosphere children soon see some recovery from their physical and emotional scars and become happy, confident and well-adjusted children.
The centre also provides home schooling for the children helps those who are disadvantaged by providing a positive environment in which to catch up. Teaching takes place in Zulu and English. However most of the children are driven to local schools. The children will also learn other life skills such as construction work, gardening and how to care for younger siblings.
Sadly, some of the children are HIV positive, and eventually become sick and die. The centre provides 24-hour care for these children so that they can pass their last days in familiar, loving surroundings rather than a busy hospital ward.
Houses of Hope Project
This project is also part of the Rural Outreach programme. Derelict homes where parentless families live give little protection from the cold, wind and rain. Traditionally parents would repair these huts but, as most HIV/AIDS sufferers are within the 18 - 45 year age group, the breadwinner and providers of these families have died, leaving the children with no one to repair and secure the homes.
These are mud houses and deteriorate with every rainy season. God's Golden Acre and a team of builders step in and give a hand to repair the damage to the huts or sometimes to build an entirely new dwelling for the family. The building team is a group of young and dynamic locals who are learning this trade and helping these needy families.
God's Golden Acre - the projects
Rural Outreach Programme
Volunteers go out each week to provide basic food supplies to hundreds of families in a local area called The Valley of a Thousand Hills. The homes have no piped water or electricity. Sanitation is minimal. Failing health and almost non-existent medical facilities further adds to the seriousness of the situation. Most grandparents work during the day as well as caring for the children and young people. Heather and the team supply beans, rice, salt and other basic necessities to families that would otherwise starve.
The aim is that the support will create sustainable means to help families cater for themselves and to rebuild their communities.
Agricultural Project
This project is part of the Rural Outreach programme. Families in the valleys that have orphans living in their homes will receive a chicken coop with 5 hens and 1 rooster. After 10 months they should give 8 chickens back to the program. The chickens that have been given back to the program are then redistributed to families which have not received any chickens yet.
Fruit trees and seeds are planted in a small piece of ground next to the dwelling. These are first planted by an agricultural professional and then given advice on how to nurture and grow these seeds and trees so that they one day can be fruitful.
The aim of this programme is to support orphaned and abandoned children and to help families cope and eventually to become as self sufficient as possible.
School fee and uniform sponsorship
This project is part of the Rural Outreach programme. It is essential that children are educated in order to have a future and to be able to take their rightful place in society.
Children who do not pay school fees are often ostracised by other scholars and by their teachers in the schools that they attend. The children are also not allowed to write school exams when fees are not up to date. In order to prevent this kind of abuse, school fees are paid directly to the school for the children supported by the programme.
Each child is provided with a complete school uniform and the necessary stationary as required by the school.
Soccer Programme "God's Golden Acre African Sporting"
In the poverty-stricken rural areas of Kwa Zulu Natal the HIV/Aids pandemic has caused a serious breakdown in the traditional family, and community structures. Alcohol and drug abuse contributes to an escalating crime rate in these areas. Most of the youth who live here face a very bleak future. With the absence of a father figure, the availability of the wide range of addictive drugs on the streets and schools, coupled with peer group influence, youth and in particular, young boys, have become vulnerable to crime and drug abuse.
In response, God's Golden Acre has started a football league in which about 100 teams are currently participating. This results in a great need for football equipment and clothing. Sport has a very positive influence on the self-image, gives relaxation, confidence and discipline to the individuals taking part. As a result, the children gain real sense of belonging and purpose.
The active participation of these children in an organized soccer league will empower them and provide a social venue whilst drawing them away from the grip of drugs, alcohol and violence.
Song and Dance educational training programme
The song and dance educational training program is a professional training project in music, song and dance. Through our partnership with Dancelink, a professional dance company, from which the youth receive professional training, our aim is to assist them in building self-confidence and developing their natural talents. Several of our youth that have been supported have achieved very well, and from among them a well-trained choir and dance group has been formed. For these children the project is a real lifeline, giving them a purpose and direction in life.
Some of our dance groups have danced for ex-president Nelson Mandela several times, as well as at the opening of the World Child Abuse Conference at ICC Conference Centre in Durban.
Arts & Crafts Educational training programme
This programme also forms part of the Rural Outreach programme. In the Arts and Crafts Programme the young adults receive professional training in arts and craft skills. The training focuses on craft products such as sewing and beadwork, and eventually mosaic will be included into the Programme. This program has been implemented in 4 areas of Kwa Zulu Natal.