Berakah to Viva Fun Run through Mamelodi

On Saturday, the 11th of September the staff and children from our different projects, along with visitors from the Pretoria, completed a 5km run from Berakah to the Viva Village and back, through the streets of Lusaka Township and the Alaska Informal Settlement in Mamelodi East.  The event was a great success and with the help of the Hatfield Christian Church's Young Adults, the Love Running Club and Echo Youth Development, everyone present were treated to juice, chips, a sweet and fruit.  We also had fun together in music and a short inspirational word.  

We needed to raise funds for the Berakah Education Center and the Viva Village and it was encouraging to see that even the children participated by collecting just under R 1.000 in donations from friends and relatives in the township.  We will use the funds raised to cover expenses at the centers, that have been feeling the pinch of rising prices and lower income during the winter months.   

Building Project - Classrooms near Completion!

We have been able to erect classrooms, which are near completion.  We still need a few articles and cash to pay labourers in order to complete it.  (See detail in column "Resource Requirements")

 STATIONS OF EARLY LEARNING

 Together with our very own Early Learning consultant, Annette Swart, we have drawn up a plan to transform our Day Care programme and maximise the development of the children in our care.  We will have 5 stations each addressing an area of early childhood development.  (Small motor skills, large motor skills, Play, Music & Reading and Outdoor Activities.) 

 A classroom for each of these stations will be equipped and the groups of children in their ages, will move after one hour, to the next station.  Furthermore their inter personal development will be enhanced by being exposed to the  home station of another group, with their pictures and artwork on the walls. 

 We urgently need to finish the classrooms so that we can incorporate the stations.  The Jungle Gym that have been put up with a grant from CIT, is the first station and the new classrooms each have to be completed and equipped. 

Thank you for your continued involvement with Berakah.  Please remember, we welcome volunteer help and donations to Berakah are tax deductible in South Africa.

God bless! 

Meleney B. Kriel 

Resource Requirements

To complete the classrooms at Berakah, we need the following:

1. Cash to pay labourers so that the work can be completed before the rainy season (6 unskilled and 3 skilled labourers @ R 2.000 per day x 14 days) 

2. 10 Doors (2032cm x 813cm)

3.  8 Window Frames (2240 cm x 605 cm)

4.  Window panes to fit the frames

5.  Ceiling Board 350 square meters 

6. Cornices for ceilings (194 m) and floors (194m)

7. 12 cubes screeding for flooring

8.  14 x 3m (75mm x 3mm) steel pipe for roof supports

9.  4 x 150 watt solar panels

10. 4 x 12 volt low cycle batteries

11. Electrical fittings, plugs & light fittings 

12.  Exterior and Interior paint 800 square meters walling 

13.  We will need about R 15.000 per classroom x 6 to furnish and equip the learning stations once we are finished with the building. 

What we are doing at Berakah:

We are providing two warm meals, education and care to about 140 pre-school children and and a warm lunch and assistance with homework for about 150 school-aged children every week day.  Our Adult Basic Education and Training programme provide skills training and job creation opportunities to about 30 very needy families.  (Beading, Sewing, Vegetable gardening and literacy) as well as other courses  offered at the Berakah Education Centre, to the community (parenting, early learning and development, money management, HIV awareness and prevention etc.)

SUPPORT

Anyone wishing to support the programmes and projects of Berakah, can get in contact with us per email, use our online donation facility on the website or make donations to the Berakah Bank Account.

First National Bank

Olympus Plaza Branch 

There are many opportunities for volunteering at Berakah Education Centre as the programmes are largely operated by volunteers.  Even our managers, teacher and cooks, work for a fraction of the market related remuneration.  Volunteering at Berakah is a meaningful way of giving back to the community and making a difference in needy people’s lives.