A new creche and park

The fence is up, the rest soon to follow!

 A few years ago a creche was set up at the Elandsvlei Drop In Centre to serve the needs of children living in the adjacent informal settlement and on nearby farms.
 "It was always meant to just be temporary measure, while we looked for a larger, more suitable, piece of ground," says Reverend Lawrence Mabaso, Carryou Ministry General Manager.
 "We have now acquired the needed land, and within the next couple of weeks the creche will be relocated."
 The site is conveniently located approximately half way between the current facility and the Mablomong Farm School and will allow a lot more kids to be helped.

Too small

 "Our current area is simply too small," says Rev. Mabaso. "With around 500 kids making use of the facilities at the Drop in Centre, there just is no space for them to play. Added to that, the law requires pre-school children be kept separate from older children."
 In addition to a new creche that will focus on children aged from three to five, a larger safe-park will be developed for the older youngsters.
 "Our creche can currently accommodate around 25 preschoolers but we will be able to double that number when we move," says Rev. Mabaso. "Our goal is to co-operate with the nearby school and prepare the children for Grade R.
 Work is feverishly underway at the new site. The area has been leveled and a new, palisade fence has been constructed.
 "Later this week the containers used as classrooms and a kitchen will be delivered," says Lawrence.

Sue Heywood visits us

 

 One of Carryou Ministry's most active supporters, Sue Heywood, from Tuxedo in the USA, stopped by for a flying visit last week. 

 Over the years, Sue and her friends have raised hundreds of thousands of rand used to feed and clothe children, buy books and provide education bursaries.

 We accompanied Sue as she visited the projects and people that benefit directly from the funds she has raised.

 Here are some pictures of her visit.

Letters from Randfontein

 

Benjamin

 The love of reading can open many doors and establish relationships that stretch across oceans. That is  precisely what has happened between children at a rural school in Randfontein and kids at Tuxedo Park School in New York.
 The US kids recently put together a project to raise funds to buy books for children at Mamblomong School and the nearby Elandsvlei Drop-in Centre. (Read the story here.)
 Almost 250 books were delivered and already they are opening new worlds to the local kids.
 In this post we publish some of the letters written to the children at Tuxedo Park School by the youngsters from Randfontein.

Boy

Elias

Johannes

Kelebogile

Lerato

Lizzy

Moipone

Passie

Piet

Refilwe

Let the reading begin!

 A few months ago we posted: When our dear, American friend, Sue Heywood, visited Carryou Ministry last year, one of her ports-of-call was the Mablomong Farm School, situated on the outskirts of Randfontein.

 "I saw there was a desperate need for books for the school's library," says Sue, "and promised I would try to do something about the situation when I returned to the US." The kids at the the Tuxedo Park School in New York and other people in her community, eagerly answered her call for help. "The children raised $1000 dollars to be used to buy books," says Sue. Since then we have been on a mission to find and buy books for both Mablomong School as well as the Drop-in Centre at Elandsvlei. Around 240 new books (to be shared equally between both sites) suitable for readers from Grades One to Seven were found and purchased by Joy Hamann, who has a long association with Carryou Ministry. Last week the books were delivered to the joy and delight of the kids, teachers and care-givers. "We are very grateful and our learners are excited," says Mphahlele Tshepiso, Head of Department at Mablomong Farm School. "We are deeply moved and grateful that children so far away care enough to make the lives of kids in Randfontein better, "says Carryou Ministry General Manager, Rev. Lawrence Mbaso. "Thank you!" Many youngsters have written letters to the children at Tuxedo Park School and we will publish some in upcoming blog entries. The images shown here are of the kids at Mablomong School. We will publish the pictures of the handover at Elandsvlei in the next post.

The following pictures are of kids reading titles recommended by the children at Tuxedo Park School.