PATRIZIA Child Care Western Cape
PATRIZIA Child Care Western Cape, Soth Africa, was established as a follow-up project for PATRIZIA Child Care Grabouw. It stems from a close partnership with the Thembalitsha Foundation, which between 2013 and 2019 ran the Village of Hope, offering a place of refuge and healing for children and young people between the ages of two and 16.
Working in close cooperation with the local youth welfare office, children were offered loving care by ‘house mums’ who made sure they were well looked after. There was a social worker to deal with family therapy as part of a goal to reunite families.
„At the Educare Centres, children from educationally deprived backgrounds receive quality education in keeping with their current age.”
Janine Egger
steward of the PATRIZIA Child Care Western Cape
Long-term and educationally beneficial services
In 2018 and 2019, child and youth services at the facility switched to mobile, off-site services. Since 2020, our local partner has continued providing its long-term and educationally beneficial services in other locations through three Educare Centres in the Western Cape region. These are called Agape, Graceland and Thembani. The focus at the three centres lies in nursery-level education.
Between them, they care for more than 140 children aged three to five. All live in extremely poor areas, with few community services to speak of and only very limited access to education. At the Educare Centres, the children receive the best possible support for their pre-school development. They also receive three meals a day.
Thanks to the relief fund, Corona Fund Education Healthcare, the PATRIZIA Foundation was able to provide support on three levels: food vouchers for the families of children at the centres; an operating allowance for facilities, so staff salaries could still be paid during closures.
Furthermore we provided the provision of learning materials for the children, so they could receive some form of education during the lockdown.
Our Project-Partner:
A video greeting from South Africa
Tales of happiness from South Africa
Ashlyn’s tale of happiness
Ashlyn’s tale of happiness began when, at the age of three, she was taken in by Graceland, the oldest of the three Educare Centres belonging to PATRIZIA Child Care Western Cape.
At the centre, she was supported in her pre-school development. Her teacher at the time, Elizabeth Solomans, is now director of the facility. Ashlyn is now a grown-up herself and has become a teacher – at the very same school she attended as a child! She has been working at the centre for five years.
The kids love her and it’s not hard to see how passionate she is about her everyday work.
Odwa’s tale of happiness
Odwa first came to the Agape Educare Centre at PATRIZIA Child Care Western Cape when she was only ten months old. She was given loving attention at the centre and received support in her early childhood development until she entered primary school. She was always a quiet child but was considered self-confident by her classmates, always doing her schoolwork as expected and like all children, she loved to play. Playful learning is important at the centre. In Agape, the ability of children to learn in the first six years of life is promoted through a holistic method that places emphasis on children’s physical, emotional and psychological well-being.
In the meantime, Odwa is in year five of a state-approved private elementary school, which is only possible because her father has set money aside for her schooling every month since she was born. Odwa is happy at the school. She has made many friends and is delighted that she can learn something new every day. Her favourite subject is maths, but she also likes handwriting and games, especially netball and swimming. In fact she has already won prizes for her sporting pursuits, as well as an award for outstanding achievements in mathematics. Her dream is to be a paediatrician one day.