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PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - Great things happen when people work together and this was proven when a tiny crèche in one of Plettenberg Bay’s poorest communities was transformed into a haven for about 100 children.
The New Life Centre in Bossiesgif – which started as a soup kitchen and grew into a crèche over the past decade when a local woman realised the need for early childhood development in the community – has received a major revamp over the past few weeks thanks to the cooperation by Joint Aid Management (JAM) Germany, JAM South Africa and Bitou Family Care.
Thandiswa Gqukani, who runs the centre, said she and some volunteers from the community started a soup kitchen in Bossiesgif in 2009 to address poverty in the area.
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“During this time we noticed how many small children were not attending any school.
"We realised the need for early childhood development and therefore started the crèche to give these children the opportunity to receive the education they needed and deserved,” Gqukani said.
Gqukani, along with several volunteers, worked with the children, but soon the numbers outgrew the facilities which consisted of a small hall, which also served as a church.
“We dreamed of a place where the children could play and have adequate space and optimal conditions to learn.”
Before the construction started in February, Gqukani and her team had 95 children at the centre.
“This [the project] is a prayer that has been answered,” an emotional Gqukani said at the official opening on Friday 2 March.
The opening ceremony.
ARTICLE & PHOTOS: YOLANDÉ STANDER, KNYSNA-PLETT HERALD CORRESPONDENT
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