Struggling crèche saved

KNYSNA NEWS - Pammy's Little Angels crèche is nothing short of a miracle, no different from the legendary phoenix that rose from the ashes with renewed youth.

The crèche was destined to be shut down after failing a health inspection in 2016, but it was all hands on deck when parents, different organisations and people from Knysna started raising funds and rebuilt the crèche and it now meets all safety regulations.

Principal and founder Pamela Mamase said she is eternally grateful to every single person who contributed and helped keep her dream alive.

The next step, she said, is to now get the school registered in order to qualify for government funding.

Mamase, who used to work at Dorothy Broster Children's Home in Knysna, started the crèche behind her house in Concordia in 2014.

"After working with children I just knew there's no way I could do anything else but work with them and love them the way I believe they deserve, and that is how the crèche came about." Mamase said her biggest challenge has been that some parents cannot afford to pay school fees and that, if it wasn't for partnerships with organisations such as the e'Pap feeding scheme, she wouldn't know how to feed the children.

"For over eight years they have been providing the children with pap and they took it a step further and sent me to study early childhood development and I'm doing my final year. Now my love for children is backed up by an even deeper understanding, this is the greatest gift."

The fully operational crèche is looking after 26 children aged between three months and five years and every November it has a heartwarming "graduation ceremony" for all the children moving on to "big school".

A host of the little angels at Pammy's crèche. Photo: Supplied