Elandsvlei Drop-in Centre: 8 years and growing from strength to strength

The pre-school facility at Elandsvlei was move to more spacious grounds recently

The Carryou Ministry, Elandsvlei Drop-in Centre has been in operation for eight years, and in that time has made a significant contribution to improving the lives of people, particularly children, in the area.
 Every day, youngsters aged from two to eighteen, receive a hot meal, are assisted with school homework and taught basic life-skills so they will grow up to be better adults.
 The centre is also used by the community for meetings, and kids can use it after hours so they have a quiet, safe place to study.
 "It is a beacon of light an hope in an area that suffers the effects of poverty and unemployment," says Programme Manager, Brenda Naholo. "On a daily basis we service 534 beneficiaries comprising 382 orphans and vulnerable children and 152 adults."
 Forty two children attend the crèche at Elandsvlei that was recently relocated to new, more spacious grounds, with an adjoining safe-park. The facility now has two classrooms, a kitchen and an office with a sick bay.
 "The core business of the Elandsvlei Pre-School is to develop children and get them ready for school grade R," says Brenda. "And also to ensure there is care and support for the kids while parents are at work. By doing so, the chances of child neglect or child trafficking is reduced. School-going kids are also able to use the facility to do their school homework."
 The Drop-in Centre provides an array of services to the community including:

• Facilitation of Child Care Forums
• Facilitation of support groups
• School holidays programmes
• Provision of nutritious daily meals
• Helping children with homework
• Assisting with applications for social grants
• Counselling
• Liaison with social workers and other authorities
• Assisting matriculated orphans with tertiary eduction placements
• Teaching orphans basic housekeeping chores at their own homes
• The running of a variety of health and awareness programmes.

 "We are proud to say, in the 2015/2016 financial year our team members made of over 7 000 successful visits to the communities we serve," says Brenda.

Children in the area now have a safe park

Some facts and figures about the Elandsvlei Drop In Centre

Elandsvlei Drop In Center

 The Elandsvlei Drop In Centre was started in 2008, as a feeding project for children, and was then called Mablomong, after the primary school in the area, on which it was situated.
 As a result of a number of logistical problems, including access to the property during school holidays, it was decided, in 2010, to move to a piece of ground at the nearby OR Tambo informal settlement, where most of the children resided.


Kitchen

 A kitchen was erected, containers were acquired and toilets and water were installed. Since then, the facility has grown into a fully fledged, multi-purpose community centre, that includes a creche for pre-school kids. Children receive protection from neglect, food, healthcare and access to Child Care forums, counseling, assistance with school homework and help in gaining access to tertiary education.
 In addition, assistance is given with the registration of birth certificates and ID documents, applications for social welfare grants and access to social workers and relevant service providers.
 In the previous year, on a daily basis, 418 people, (367 orphaned and vulnerable children and 51 adults) received services from the Elandsvlei Drop In Centre and 4200 visits were done by members of Programme Manager, Brenda Naholo's team.

The kitchen at Elandsvlei

The creche

Programme Manager at Elandsvlei, Brenda Naholo