Looking forward to a year of blessings
I want to thank our sponsors and volunteers who support Durbanville Children’s Home. Your assistance has helped me to grow the Durbanville Children’s Home program in 2023 and has given me the confidence to visualise the changes I want to bring about in 2024.
Looking after 144 children’s individual needs within a large care facility is both challenging and rewarding.
I draw strength from the fact that we are celebrating 141 years of rendering care to vulnerable children.
One of our biggest challenges is that our children attend 38 different schools, some as far as Ysterplaat and Atlantis. As you can imagine, the logistics around getting children to and from school every day is a daunting task. In addition we had 11 children attending our informal on-site school in 2023, whilst waiting for a school placement.
Last year was the first year we have had a school leavers’ house, which accommodates children who are 17 years and older, and are either finishing school or are in their last year of care. The benefits of such a program are clear. Our children are equipped with skills that facilitate them in being more independent and ready to face the world.
Children placed in our care have emotional and psychological challenges due to the trauma that they have endured. We recognize that the need for therapy in our environment is non-negotiable. We want to expand our intervention into our children’s lives, by appointing a part-time therapist. In order to make this much-needed resource a reality we would need additional funding.
Accommodating children in satellite houses in the community is a preferred way of caring for vulnerable children. We registered a request at the Department of Housing as far back as 2010 and this project is now in its planning stages. We hope to add two more satellite houses in 2025, should the proposal be approved.
In our student program, we are blessed to have three children who completed their studies in 2023, and a further four children are enrolling in tertiary institutions in 2024. Another part of this program is assisting our children in finding employment and growing into self-reliant adults. Currently these students and young adults are housed in rooms behind Durbanville Children’s Home. This area is not optimal, and we would like to improve its functioning to better suit the needs of the children and the program’s overall implementation.
We have completed the renovation of the bathroom areas in our 12 housing units and are now focusing on the revamping of the kitchens and bedrooms.
We are proud to say that 11 Child -and Youth care workers have been busy with their qualifications in Child -and Youth care this year. Six CYCWs have completed their NQF 4 certificates and five are still busy with their NQF 5 certificates.
Four of our children were awarded WP colours in sport and three of our girls received SA colours in karate.
We had a blessed year in 2023, and I am looking forward to advance our program again in 2024 through partnerships with donors and volunteers.
To see our program firsthand you can arrange a site visit by contacting Louise Coetzee at dch@dchome.org.za
I hope that 2024 will be a special year for you!
Johanna Strauss
Manager: Durbanville Children’s Home