Five years ago, Breadline Africa set itself an ambitious goal to increase its modest infrastructure tally of just over 400 to 1,000 in five years to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its founding in 1993 in style.
Breadline Africa is now celebrating the launch of its 1,000th infrastructure unit at Pooh Bear Educare in Delft, Cape Town, only a month and a half into the year.
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Breadline Africa, one of Southern Africa’s largest providers of educational infrastructure for poverty relief, has provided 1,000 units to impoverished communities since its inception in 1993.
The non-profit organisation believes that every child has the potential to do extraordinary things with their life. When a child’s imagination is unlocked, new possibilities emerge, allowing them to chart their own course for the future. It facilitates this journey by supporting childhood development initiatives and infrastructure in Southern Africa.

The renovated containers and prefabricated units are used as classrooms, kitchens and toilets at early childhood development centres and as feeding kitchens and libraries at primary schools.

Breadline Africa, in collaboration with GROW Educare, has made it possible for the preschool to receive three new classrooms and a jungle gym, completing a process that began in 2018 when Pooh Bear Educare received a 60-metre square prefabricated classroom and two 6-metre containers converted into a kitchen and toilet facility.

The organisation’s director Marion Wagner commented, “We believe that every child has the capacity to do something phenomenal with his or her life, given support and development opportunities. Through our infrastructure and in collaboration with partners like GROW Educare Centres, we aim to create a measurable impact in addressing school readiness and access to safe ECD centres.”
She continued, “According to the ECD Census 2021, nearly 70% of South African children under six are not enrolled in any early learning programme. Safe infrastructure is the costliest aspect for preschool principals. In addition, we cannot address the current school dropout rate of 50% if children are not sufficiently ready to enter primary school. Equipping pre-schools together with our partners will make a difference in preparing our children to succeed in school and into the future. Education is a path out of poverty.”
Principal Michelle said, “We are so excited about the classrooms and want to thank Breadline Africa, GROW and MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet with all our hearts. We see so many children roaming the dangerous streets of Delft, and many of them are on our waiting lists. These new classrooms will help us accommodate more children. It is a great burden that has been taken away and allows us to focus on the quality of education we provide the children at Pooh Bear.”
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Picture: Supplied