Major upgrade for Ethelbert children’s home

A RESOURCE centre worth R1.8m was launched at the Ethelbert Child and Youth Care Centre (CYCC) on Thursday, March 3.

The children’s home based in Malvern boasts three classrooms and was funded by a charitable trust, The Victor Daitz Foundation. 

“This project was two years in the making. We are so excited to finally see its completion,” said the director of the children’s home, Vanessa Theophilus.

What started as a vision of the director and her management team, through the generosity of The Victor Daitz Foundation has been realised. The purpose-built centre will serve as an educational hub for the 65 orphaned and vulnerable children residing at Ethelbert CYCC.

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The three rooms comprise of a fully equipped and networked IT and media room where computer studies, research and online learning can take place. It also contains a recreational room conducive for arts and crafts lessons, life skills activities and remedial programmes and finally, an early childhood development classroom aligned educational programme will be conducted for the home’s pre-Grade R children.

Theophilus describes the vision of the resource centre as a proactive approach to bridge the gaps in learning that many of the children possess when placed in Ethelbert CYCC’s care.

“As an organisation, one of our many focus is the education of our children, and providing an equal opportunity for learning so each child leaves with the toolkit necessary to make a success of their lives,” said Theophilus.

The new building, aptly named The Victor Daitz Foundation Resource Centre, garnered the financial and in-kind support of various additional stakeholders who donated towards the infrastructure and equipment to meet the purposes of the different spaces.

Botha’s Hill-based school, Kearsney College, donated a generous R100 000 from their centenary celebration, towards equipping the new centre. Khanya Africa Networks donated the IT infrastructure, the Manning Road Methodist Church and Faith for Daily Living Foundation also provided generous donations towards resourcing the centre and individual donors made contributions in their private capacity.

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When asked what the support of these donors and funders means for this project, Theophilus said, “there is a saying – it takes a village to raise a child and this project bears testament to that. Without the generosity of these amazing stakeholders, the resource centre would have remained a vision. Instead, they saw the vision and invested in it, and by doing so, invest in a brighter future for our children. For this, we are humbled and forever grateful.”

The Victor Daitz Resource Centre is one of its kind in a local children’s home and this launch marks a significant milestone in the existence of Ethelbert Child and Youth Care Centre.

If you would like to support Ethelbert CYCC and its efforts, contact Nazley Giquel at pro@ethelbert.co.za.

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