Shalom
Our Dream Project for the future!
Our Vision and Purpose is
to provide a safe home environment for every child in school.
We want to protect children and ensure that they have the opportunity to reach their full potential.
Our Shalom Home is where children live with a loving adult care giver in a family home with easy access to food, health-care, education, recreation, and emotional support.
Three years ago I was appointed at Laerskool Kameeldrift, on a miraculous way. The school nearly closed down with 82 Learners. I believe the Lord sent me to the school, to help the school and the community. It was clear that this community has a lot of people, which for various reasons cannot give their families a normal life and these children has the disadvantage of not growing up in a stable, well secured environment.
In our immediate community we have 2 white and 2 black settlements of which the children are in our school. All the families live in small Wendy houses, without electricity and some of them don’t even have beds or bathrooms. The kitchens are outside in the open air. Most of the children’s little belongings are in the open air near the Wendy’s, as there is no place inside. The children do their homework outside on the stairs and when they must learn, they do it under a tree. A lot of these learners arrive at school dirty and hungry and the first food they receive is the food we can give them at the school. Our school is situated in a rural area between Pretoria West and Hartbeespoort. Many of our parents and people in the community help us where ever they can and even our churches bring food and clothing to us for distribution. Unfortunately our problem is too big for these resources and we are not solving it at all. All of these factors inspired us to look at our problems from a different angle.
My vision for the past three years is still the same: (Laerskool Kameeldrift as well as Shalom)
1. To provide every learner a well balanced plate of food daily.
2. We started with an enrolment of 82 learners and to date we have 435 learners.
This force me to appoint enough teachers to make it possible so that every
grade will have their own teacher for individual attention. (The Department of
Education do not provide enough educators.)
3. To build a hostel for the needy learners.
4. To build flats to solve the housing problem and to generate extra income for
the school.
5. To support the learners, parents and teachers with love, care and social help
as well as additional curriculum for the teachers.
6. Since February 2012: A private high school for our school’s learners.
Our school has children with high potential to reach big goals in the future. I decided to take these children from their current circumstances and give them a chance to prove themselves.
Since this vision was laid upon my heart in 2009 I started to talk to friends and donators about my vision. Mrs. Franita Bosman said that she and other donators will help me to set up a house.
Shalom Academic Home was opened on 17 July 2010. This home is situated , next to Laerskool Kameeldrift. This house was open especially to help unprivileged girls with the potential to perform better on their Academic performance, Image performance, Personal performance as well as Physical and Spiritual performance.
Hannatjie du Plessis, the house mother of Shalom, supported the girls with help, love, and security and offer a homely atmosphere to the girls. They made food, set a table and learn about all “woman stuff”. But the most important of all: They learn to keep their heads high and to make the most of each day with the Lord on their side.
Each girl has her own warm bed, she could bath or shower, with nighties. Each girl’s dream! Every girl had her own table to learn and play in the study room. A big lounge where they have supper, with long small talks at night, was for some of them the first. What a privilege to have.
A wonderful home for a small princess.
The first 12 girls were: Grade 7: Macylla Beukes, Carlene Sturgeon, Bonita Oberholtzer, Bianca Louw. Grade 6: Angel Khan, Christine Fox. Grade 5: Anthea Zuba, Esmerelda Smith. Grade 4: Lizelle Niemandt. Grade 3: Nikkita Grobelaar, Tammy Coetzee. Grade 1: Louise Smith.
Macyla Beukes became our school’s head girl for the year 2010. We took her out of her circumstances in July and helped her to reach her goals. At that stage she was staying with her parents in a wendy house, 3m x 3m, she did not have a table or chair to study. She was studying under a tree. She proved herself on all areas: Emotionally, spiritual and academically. At the end of grade 7 she reached an average of 89%. I am proud to say that one of our underprivileged girls climbed to the top and showed other children that you can became someone in live, if you are making the correct decision in live!
Last year we had 12 girls in Shalom. One girl was suspended because she did not reach our goals. She was also to “mature” in life and was a bad influence to the rest of the girls. Paper work has been completed, parents were informed and without any problems she was send back to her parents. Learners from grade 1 up to grade 7 may qualify for abovemention. I am proud to say that this opportunity for better education is working 100%. Two Shalom girls were announced as head leaders for 2012. ( Anthea Zuba,since July 2010 in Shalom and Genevieve van der Westhuizen, since January 2011 in Shalom) In two years time, three head leaders. It is a miracle.
The main purpose of this project is to get the learners to perform academically, help them with better circumstances. We provide food, clothing, stationary, everything they need to perform better in live as well as love and support. If a learner does not reach this agreement she will lose her place and give another child this opportunity. This is not a hostel, but will be for the benefit of the children in our school, Laerskool Kameeldrift, who has the potential, to exceed in live but who is kept back by their current circumstances.
In February 2012, I add one vision and that is to open a private high school especially for our school learners. How can I support a child that left my/our school? You feel to cry when you hear nobody is there for them. One of our previous girls fell pregnant. She was absent for 73 days in the high school. No one gave her love and support, because she was a poor child. If we just had her longer in our school…
Another boy went through hard times. His father stayed with a girlfriend. A very rough live. He ran away twice in our school. Luckily I found him. At school we supported and encouraged him. Now, after a few months, his father moved to Cape Town. Who will be there for that child? If we had a high school with a hostel I know that boy could reach big goals in life.
I applied to be a non profit organization but have not received the NPO number yet. The bank account is still in the previous head girl’s name, Macylla Beukes. At the bank I must provided Shalom constitution, members of Shalom as well as minutes of meetings been held. At this stage I can provide everything except the NPO number. As soon as I receive this number I can open an account under the name SHALOM as a non profit organisation.
The monthly income and expenditures’ statements are been kept. Any person or donator is welcome to have input to the account as well as the bank statements. In 2012 it was a very rough year for Shalom. We nearly could not pay all our monthly expenditures. Luckily I had a lot of food sponsors. Just a few rand was paid for food purchases. Any person is welcome to have a look at the income and expenditure statements as well as the bank statements, to date.
The following members are part of the functionality of Shalom. Joubert and Marina van Niekerk ( Principal of Laerskool Kameeldrift) Franita Bosman (donator) Elize and Carl Pieterse (an old scholar of Laerskool Kameeldrift and a resigned attorney, out of the community) Marlet and Christo Botha (Secretary of Laerskool Kameeldrift and chairperson of the SGB). We are having meetings once a month.
Shalom’s Expenditure per month 2012:
Rent 5 000.00
Electricity 2 000.00
Salary 3 000.00
Wages 3 000.00 (maid + gardener) I cannot afford it on this stage.
Groceries 5 000.00 On this stage the Lord provide every month.
Total 18 000.00
At this stage I am having a cash flow problem. People or donators want to adopt a girl and help her with stationary, clothes ext. They are not willing to help with the rent, with the electricity or the wages. If I cannot pay the monthly expenditure I must close this home and what will happen to these learners?
I signed an offer to purchase for the land in the amount of R 1 200 000.00 next to the school. We can build more Shalom houses as well as the high school. This small holding is 11 hectares big. The purchase price is payable the end of October 2012. Our school needs more support for our needy learners desperately!
Laerskool Kameeldrift’s learners need Shalom, to help them in different ways. At this stage we desperately need donators to help the school and to keep Shalom’s doors open.
Any person who would like to take hands or who need more info on Shalom can contact Marina van Niekerk 072 813 2887, Marlet Botha 074 1881 345 or Franita Bosman 082 854 6002.
Please came and visit our school to get involved at one of our school’s projects.