Less than 24 hours to feed 105 children
A break-in left the children at Reamogetswe without food on the morning of Friday 19 August.
When Lebo Marobe locked up the Reamogetswe Day Care Centre for the night on Thursday 18 August, she had no idea that she would be placed in a difficult situation the next morning.
Lebo woke up at 5am, and when she went outside, she received the shock of her life. The fence surrounding the day care centre had been cut in three places, one of the classroom doors had been broken down, and a computer, and all the food and blankets for the children had been stolen.
Reamogetswe is an early childhood development centre that is situated within an informal community settlement in Muldersdrift. The centre currently cares for 105 children between the ages of two and six years by providing them with two hot meals a day, as well as an early childhood development programme delivered by six trained staff members.
“It is so painful. We still need to meet the requirements set by the government in order to receive their funding. If people keep stealing our stuff, we will never reach these requirements,” Lebo said.
Lebo immediately went to the Drift Reaction offices, as they had previously installed an alarm system and currently monitor the facility. With tears running down her face, she spoke to Terry Ann Booyse and explained what had happened.
Terry Ann immediately called the councillor for Ward 39, Zillah Wehinger-Maguire, to see if there was anyway to help the situation. By 3pm that afternoon, they had received donations towards food supplies and other necessities, as well as a new laptop.
The donations were taken through that afternoon, and the team received a warm welcome from a tearful Lebo and her team.
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