I went to visit Vos Centre in Sunnyside, Pretoria yesterday. The conditions the CSC is working in with these children is really dire. The first thing you notice is the area it is situated in. Apparently dangerous, with many 'weird' characters just 'hanging around' staring at you as you park your car. The road side outside of the centre looks terrible: cans, paper and other garbage have just been dumped right there in the street and on the sidewalk. There is no nice little garden area to make the centre attractive, just a high wall with barbed wire stretched along the top and a double steel gate (one electronic, but it doesn't work anymore). There are two signs on the wall: one naming the CSC as the people caring for the facility and another, handpainted one, naming the centre. I immediately noticed the handpainted sign....it told me a lot about the facility. Painted in bright primary colors, but still cost effective...it just showed me that these people care a lot, and that they want to make a child's life a happy one, but that they do not necessarily have the money to do a proper job. At the security guards suggestion I moved my car inside the premises for safety reasons. I'm quite relieved...some of those guys outside look positively threatening!
To say the least my first impressions was, well, pure shock at the circumstances the good people of CSC have to give assistance to the community. The staff is very professional and kind and my reception at the centre was to be commended. Ronel, the manager of CMR is a wonderful person, who obviously loves her work and the children. The same can be said of Anna, the head-mistress. You can see they are trying to make the most of what they have just to give the kids a nice place to stay during the day.
Vos Centre was established nearly 13 years ago and is run by the Christian Social Counsel. They do receive some funding from the government, but not nearly enough to fulfill in all their needs. At the moment they take care of 90+ children and have three classrooms. 2-3 years, 3-5 years and then the grade R class. They really make an effort to make the environment as child-friendly as possible. The walls are painted with bright animated characters and the kids' artwork is displayed everywhere. The teachers are devoted people, who enjoy working with the little ones and even some of the mother's are involved in the centre....helping with caring, cleaning and cooking.
The play area is well-equipped, but the equipment itself is very old and worn. The staff try there best to keep it up to standards, but because of its age, they can do only SO much. There is no grass for the children to play on, just sand. The area where they have their meals seem over-crowded, but filled with bright plastic chairs and tables.
According to the manager, most of the children come from immigrant-parents and upon arrival at the centre, they cannot speak English, Afrikaans or any other ethnic language spoken in South Africa....they speak only French. The school teaches them to communicate in these languages in order to prepare them for a future in a South African primary school. When they leave the school they are, more often than not, ready to take on the challenge of fending for themselves in a language everyone in the country understands. In my opinion, this is NOT an easy task at all and the teachers really do a great job in helping these children.
Apart from the pre-school, they also feed the community. More than 60 people a day comes to the kitchen area to receive meals at lunch-time.
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