Children’s care centre receives helping hand
THE days of being crammed in a shack will soon end for 52 children from Khulani day care centre in Santa, thanks to a kindly initiative.
In July this year, the Dispatch reported about the plight of children from the Khulani who were being cared for in a shack without a roof, after a strong gale caused it to collapse.
They lost most of their furniture, and the children, aged under six years, lost most of their toys and learning materials during the storm.
Touched by the plight of the children, Ruliv – a non-profit organisation which was the Boss Gaming Group’s corporate social investment (CSI) programme – responded to the centre’s plea for a safer and more permanent structure.
Ruliv is based in Southernwood and provides support services around all aspects of rural and urban developments in the Eastern Cape.
Mandla Khumsha from Ruliv said after reading about the centre’s plight in the Dispatch, they decided to rebuild the centre using bricks.
“When I read the article I could feel the owner and the children were deeply hurt after their roof was blown away. We decided to use funds from the CSI programme to build them a permanent structure,” said Khumsha.
Construction on the new building started at the beginning of September and the centre, about 86m², is already standing at roof height.
The founder of the centre, Thembeka Dyeshana, said when she was contacted by Ruliv and informed that a brick structure WOUld be built, she felt like she was dreaming.
“I thought I might have heard wrong. It was only when I saw the bricks being off-loaded in the yard that I realised that my dreams had come true,” said Dyeshana.
She recalled how when she started the centre 16 years ago in a one-room shack she had always had the desire of building a more permanent structure but never managed to scrape the funds together.
“The shack would flood during heavy rain and when it collapsed, part of me collapsed with it. But now I’m so happy it is being re-built and made even stronger,” said Dyeshana.
The children are being taken care of from Dyeshana’s home, which is a few metres from the centre.
Construction on the centre is expected to be complete by next week. —