The Family Literacy Project (FLP), a registered NPO, Section 21 not for profit organization, was established in 2000 to address the concern raised by findings of research conducted by Khulisa Management Services that showed no improvement in the early literacy levels in pre-schoolers, despite training and support provided through the national Department of Education.
To explore the role of families, the FLP held workshops in rural sites in southern KwaZulu-Natal for adults caring for children at home. These workshops provided opportunities for adults to discuss, learn and experiment with ways they could use every day experiences and materials to build early literacy skills in their children. A participatory rural appraisal conducted late in 2000 showed that the adults also wanted to improve their own literacy.
We support four community libraries which are open every day and run holiday programmes for children in these remote villages. We also facilitate a home visiting programme to promote child and maternal health and early childhood development.
Building on the success of our work we are now working in 15 villages in Ingwe, Mzimkulu, KwaSani and Impendle municipalities, in the Sisonke District. The Family Literacy Network was started in 2010 to encourage long standing FLP adult groups to use their literacy skills to improve their lives through income generating projects and savings clubs.
Noahs Ark has been serving the Early Childhood Educational needs of the Underberg and Himeville Low-income Housing developments for 25 Years. In this time, they have received numerous awards as ECD site and Practitioner of the Year Awards at the annual ABSA award ceremonies.
They rely on donations and support from the local community to be able to run their beautiful school of 100 students from 2 to 6 years of age.
Asifunde Sonke – Let’s all learn together – emerged from a need to provide support to local rural and township Crèches and Pre-Schools that had no chance of ever upgrading the skillset of their dedicated Educators.
A nationally recognized Teacher’s Training College was started to provide locally based, affordable, further education opportunities, of the highest standard, to aspirant Educators. They College is run on a nonprofit basis and relies on donor support.
Clouds of Hope relies heavily on individual and trust donations. We are a registered non-profit organisation in South Africa, and a registered charity in the UK (number 1114506).
Clouds of Hope is a children’s care centre in Underberg, South Africa. We are home to 64 children, the youngest now 18 months and the oldest 20. The children come from desperately poverty-stricken backgrounds, many come from circumstances of unimaginable neglect and abuse and some have compromised immune systems.
And all of them, after extensive investigation, have no-one to care for them and so are legally placed in the care of Clouds of Hope.
Clouds of Hope is all about giving these children a better start in life and hope for the future.
It is our aim to reduce the impact of the current HIV/AIDS pandemic by providing support for children affected by the virus, and through outreach work within the community.
https://cloudsofhope.com
Restmount nestles in a beautiful mountain setting on the slopes of Bamboo Mountain, 17 kilometres out of Underberg. It is a 522ha playground dedicated to the underprivileged and needy children of KwaZulu Natal, and is supported by the people of KwaZulu Natal. Here the children can enjoy the great outdoors in a safe environment in complete contrast to the heat and humidity of our crowded coastal towns. Restmount caters for children aged seven to fifteen years.
Restmount was founded in August 1942 when the late Dr Fred Cluver told members of the Durban Rotary Club of his dream.
Drakensberg holiday resort for underprivileged children.
The club accepted the challenge and raised the necessary funds to build the first complex of thatched bungalows. The first group of children arrived on the 6th October 1945.
The Durban Mountain Homestead Association now guides this magnificent project. This is a registered Non-Profit Organisation and is steered by a voluntary team of workers who form the Management Committee. Restmount receives no Government subsidy or assistance.
A swimming pool was built with funds raised by the Sani Pass Hotel.
After a devastating fire in 2000 which destroyed much of the complex, funds were raised once more and new buildings were erected. The Homestead is fully functional again. This has all been due to the generosity of many friends of Restmount and the people of KwaZulu Natal.
Restmount has continued for seventy years and has provided holidays for well over 25 000 young guests. Restmount is able to fulfil the dream of its founder in taking children out of overcrowded and stressful environments and giving them a break amid the mountains where healthy appetites are born and wholesome, nutritional food is provided.
At Restmount there is no time for boredom and so much to see and do.
There are mountains to climb, a beautiful waterfall to splash under, a crystal-clear river to swim in and pine forests to walk and play in.
Others remember the fun, laughter and camaraderie of Restmount concerts, carol singing and other forms of home entertainment, realising television has not been missed. Still others keep in touch with the leaders of their groups, remembering the love, care and fair discipline shown to them.
The resident House Parents and farm workers are the only paid employees; all other workers and the group leaders are voluntary helpers.
To support Restmount is to invest your interest, time and money in a child, giving that child the opportunity to see life in a new dimension as well as helping to mold his future. If you would like to help we would love to join your efforts with ours.
You can do this by:
• adopting a project or donating cash or kind toward it
• sponsoring a child or a full group
• sponsoring transport for the holiday
• becoming a member or life member of the Association
• helping with fund raising, street collections, etc
• becoming involved in the re-building project
www.restmount.org
The land on which Pevensey Place resides, used to be part of a farm owned by Ralph Hardingham. Tucked away in the foothills of the Southern Drakensberg, Ralph Hardingham, a local to the Underberg district and who coincidentally was responsible for establishing numerous schools in the same district, found himself mulling over what to do with some 84 hectares.
Having more than enough land to do his farming, he felt this section of his land could be put to better use and so placed an advert in the local papers calling for proposals.
Round Table South Africa and the Natal Cerebral Palsy Association heeded his call and so, in 1972 Pevensey Place was officially opened with Sani 152’s chairman – Ko Egbrink – cutting the ribbon.
To this day, all that were involved still believe the project’s success was due to Pevensey becoming a national project for Round Table at that time. Remarkably, a farmer’s goodwill to an urgent need for a settlement caring for cerebral palsied adults became a reality for the whole of South Africa.
Pevensey Place has now been running for 44 years. It is testament to the invaluable work done by Round Table South Africa and the value those young men and women can contribute to their communities when they pull together.
www.pevenseyplace.co.za
Under the guidance of Terence Khawula, our local Traffic Officer, those residents in our community that are new to cycling and have invested most of what they earned into just getting a bicycle, Sani Spoors has sponsored Cycling Kit, Safety Equipment, Race Entries and access to the wonderful trails on offer.
We have a definite increase in the number of cyclists that wish to enter the world of cycling, but were never afforded the opportunity until Sani Spoors and various others donated equipment to facilitate their smooth entry.
