Izibusiso Foster Homes
In 2008 Hermanus Child Welfare and the United Church of Hermanus joined forces to open a community-based foster home and Place of Safety for orphaned, abandoned and vulnerable babies and toddlers. It is a small, intimate foster home for six children (plus two emergency places) headed up by a House Mother, with the assistance of a team of dedicated volunteers.
The children, aged from birth to roughly three years of age are cared for in the foster home until they are placed in adoptive homes. Izibusiso lives up to its name, which means a House of Many Blessings. Its focus is on surrounding the children with love and providing them with a new and positive start in life. Although some years ago its management committee took the decision to establish an independent NGO in its own name, it maintains a close working relationship with what is now called Hermanus Child and Family Services.
SPARKLE KIDS
Sparklekids has received funding from ADT over a period of several years During that time many young people from local disadvantaged communities were supported by Theo and Angie Krynauw, the founders, and they, in partnership with ADT and other donors, are proud to have seen them graduate in a variety of important disciplines.
However, it has become clear that unless tertiary education is job-related, the hard-won qualifications may not led to meaningful employment. This is why, four years ago, together with a handful of people with a similar vision, they initiated the Overstrand Learning Hub (referred to by some as Sparklekids II).
Hermanus Visual Art and Design Centre (HVAD)
The HVAD is a registered NPO based in Hawston where it offers a variety of art experiences to primary and secondary school learners, encompassing art therapy and for the older learners art as the basis for entrepreneurial development. It also offers post-matric experience to assistants who wish to become art teachers themselves or commercial graphic designers. One of her current youth assistants is Ronaldo Bantom (see Luvo Maranti Arts Scholarship).
This is the first year ADT will be providing support to this project and it will be for a very specific purpose: to assist the Overstrand Association for Persons with Disabilities (OAPD), one of ADT’s other beneficiaries, which has a craft workshop also based in Hawston (see below).
Overstrand Association for Persons with Disabilities (OAPD)
ADT has a well-established relationship with the OAPD, dating back to 2018. It is one of the Trust’s mandates to promote skills development and job creation for people with disabilities. The purpose of the organisation, which was registered in 2009, is to raise the quality of life of persons with disabilities within their communities, where they are recognised as equal, active citizens and can live a purposeful life.
One of OAPD’s projects supported by ADT from its inception focuses on income generation for people with physical and intellectual disabilities. It constitutes the design and manufacture of hand-crafted products made from abalone shells supplied by Abagold. The shell workshop is currently providing work for five fully trained crafters. This year ADT is providing stipends for five additional recruits to receive training in the production of new designs by another of our beneficiaries, the Hermanus Visual Arts and Design Centre (HVAD).
Whale Coast Conservation’s Education Programme
Whale Coast Conservation (WCC) is a registered NPO that has been working to protect the spectacular natural environment in the Overberg region of South Africa for 20 years. This is an area encompassing marine, coastal, lowland and mountainous regions. It is in the heartland of the fynbos biome of the Cape Floral Kingdom and is a biodiversity hotspot.
One of the WCC’s focus areas is environmental education. An important part of its focus is the Youth Environment Programme (YEP), which supplements the schools’ Life Sciences curriculum with expos that connect classroom learning with real life. It has been successfully implemented in various Overstrand schools for more than 8 years where with the support of the individual schools and the Western Cape Department of Education, it supplements and illustrates the life sciences curriculum with real-life examples. An Expo consists of 5 learning stations where a particular aspect of an overall theme is introduced by a skilled educator.
Sustainable Futures Holiday Programme
ADT has a long relationship with Sustainable Futures dating back to 2012 when it assisted in laying out an irrigation system for a vegetable garden established at the Hermanus Waldorf School, which is largely attended by children from Zwelihle. In later years, other projects followed, including the establishment of a substance misuse programme for youth in local communities. The Clive Prins Youth Treatment Programme was launched in 2015 with ADT as one of its major funders. It was registered with the Department of Social Development and ran successfully for three years.
A new school holiday project was launched by the organisation in 2022 and implemented during the March, June/July and October breaks. The same 15 girls in Grade 6 at Mount Pleasant School (judged by their school to be at risk of falling prey to anti-social influences) participated in all three programmes. In each case the programme took place over a four-day period and featured varied and fun-filled activities, aimed at building self-confidence and developing social, communication and leadership skills. The response from the girls, their parents and teachers was uniformly positive.
Enlighten Education Trust
Research shows that good quality early childhood education is critical in helping children develop the social, emotional and cognitive skills necessary to prepare them for a rich and productive life. Early Childhood Development is a cornerstone of the work of Enlighten.
In addition to Teacher Development, the project offers a School Readiness Support Programme for parents, as well as assistance with the registration of educare (ECD) centres. These projects are complemented by the Enlighten Book and Toy libraries. In addition, the Trust has established a model, state-of-the-art ECD classroom at its headquarters, to be used as a training facility for existing ECD teachers and trainees.
Just Care
Just Care was established in May 2015, by the Trustees of the Rathfelder Family Trust. Their intention was to accommodate approximately 30 to 40 children for aftercare every day, but within 3 days they had 122 children.
They continued with this number of children until Covid started and they were forced to reduce their numbers. During the years of Covid they changed from an aftercare to a full-day education facility. They worked with a local school and taught the school curriculum every day, with great success: all the learners passed their respective grades. They are now back to being an aftercare centre from 12.00pm to 5.00pm. Children are fed there, do homework, engage in sport and are taught life skills.
