On 18 March, the Michaelhouse Community Partnership Trust (MCPT) celebrated the opening of the Lions River Early Childhood Development (ECD) Centre. This milestone was made possible through the generous support of the Albert Wessels Trust, the Bright Kid Foundation, Michaelhouse CPT, Peter Wentzel, and the Lions River community.
The 1000 days between the age of 2 and 5 is the foundation of a child’s education journey. This new centre, with two classrooms, a hygiene centre, an office, a sick room, safe toilets and a safe playground aim to provide quality early childhood development opportunities for children in Lions River and their nearby communities. Run by the community on a fee paying basis, and partially subsidised by the DoE, MCPT, as with the other 9 ECD centres it supports, will continue to add value through the use of GROW ECD (Governance) and Reach out to Read (Literacy) to supplement the work of the Centre in providing access to a strong early learning environment.
Right next door are three schools supported by MCPT, two Primary; Lions River Primary and Crystal Springs; and then down the road in Lidgetton Jabula Combined (both Primary and Secondary) which MCPT is committed to in our journey to make our 16 ‘footprint schools’ more functional as places of learning.
This is the previous state the ‘old’ Care Centre, two broken down Wendy Houses and a dilapidated kitchen.
Pleasingly, a number of Community Service boys from Michaelhouse were in attendance, who donated blankets to help keep the children warm during the upcoming winter.
The opening of the Lions River ECD centre this year, and the opening of the ECD centre in Zenzani last year is ample demonstration of our vision “To enhance the functionality of our 16 community schools and 10 ECD Centres so that every learner leaves with the self-belief of being able to realise his/her full potential.
The opening was indeed a proud moment for both the Lions River community and MCPT, with hope and joy ubiquitous.
Should you wish to support the Michaelhouse Community Partnership’s mission to improve the functionality of our schools and ECD centres in our local communities, please reach out via email at cpt@michaelhouse.org or learn more by visiting the support page at www.mcommunitypartnerships.com/support
