Siphuncedo – Help us
Knysna is a small town on the beautiful Garden Route in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The town has about 68,000 inhabitants and is located near a large lagoon connected to the Indian Ocean. Although this might sound idyllic, there is great suffering and poverty.
About 70% of the inhabitants live in the various townships of the city: corrugated iron huts crowded together, with no running water and unpaved roads. That is why we want to help the most vulnerable of them – the children.
What we offer
We are very happy that we can now support our partner project in Knysa with our association “iThemba elitsha – neue Hoffnung e.V.”: a kindergarten with 25 children, who are currently housed on the premises of a church, as their “container” has become too small and unusable. We want to offer these children the opportunity to develop and play. With your donations, we are hoping to build new housing for the children.
Life in the townships is hard – parents have to work and cannot take care of their children. Infants are cared for by their siblings who are still children themselves. There are no playgrounds, there is garbage everywhere, and anywhere you look there is potential danger to injure oneself. There are drug dealers, up to no good, and gang crime, and children playing among all this.
We want to offer these children a perspective for the future, prepare them for school, create a safe and secure environment.
That is why our focus is on health and safety.
- One hot, healthy meal per day
- Leisure activities that bring joy
- Pedagogical care, especially for traumatized children
- Playful development of perception, language, movement, coordination, thinking, emotionality and empathy
- A safe and secure place
- Education and support for parents (AIDS/HIV, parental stress, money concerns, contraception, nutrition)
The kindergarten is open all day and will remain in the church until the new building is completed. However, the children don’t have any opportunity to play outside, and they are not allowed to bring their toys. There is no heating and very sparse access to electricity and water.
Covid-19
South Africa was hit particularly hard by the Corona pandemic, and to this day there are high rates of infection and mortality throughout the country, as well as harsh restrictions on people’s daily lives, such as high rates of unemployment and long-term school closures.
Many parents are unable to pay the low monthly kindergarten fee of 5€ due to the ongoing poor economic situation. Without this money (125€), the salary of the teachers cannot be paid.
There is an adapted hygiene concept, and all Corona protection measures are complied with.
We highly appreciate every donation and can assure you that every Euro will benefit the children directly.