Located within Imizamo Yethu (IY) in Hout Bay, the Little Lambs Christian Daycare and Educare Centre is dedicated to providing comprehensive care, quality early childhood education and nourishing meals to approximately 300 preschoolers.
The organisation places a strong emphasis on ensuring its educators are fully certified and sourcing ingredients for meals from the nearby community.
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Little Lambs has played a transformative role, particularly for women, empowering them to lead better lives. The centre, established nearly a quarter-century ago, stands as a testament to the power of collective efforts among women in creating positive change.
Marlena van der Walt recounts, ‘In 1995, my husband and I got involved with the Kronendal farm in Hout Bay through the church. It was a huge vegetable farm, and the farm workers lived in extreme poverty under the dop system. We wanted to help them.’
She adds, ‘I started by making soup for people working on the farm. Then our mission turned to create a daycare where some mothers would look after kids, many of whom came home from school to a lot of drunkenness and terrible conditions so that other mothers could go to work. Initially, the women on the farm did not want to look after the children because they were illiterate and couldn’t help with their homework. These women were ashamed, so we started teaching them to read and write.’
‘Soon mothers from IY, the neighbouring township, approached us and said they needed childcare too. And that’s how we slowly started, first with only 16 children in a double garage and portable toilets on the farm.’
In 2003, Little Lambs secured a lease and established a formal school at the border of Penzance Estate, a middle-class suburb and the IY township. Over time, the institution has grown significantly, now catering to 300 children across 11 buildings and providing them with three nutritious meals daily. It stands as one of the largest and most accomplished ECD centres in the country.
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Marlena emphasises the collective nature of their achievements, saying, ‘We did not do this alone. So many community women stepped in to help at the preschool. We realised that empowering these women was the key to bringing real change and progress to their lives, and so we helped them become qualified teachers. Their transformation was nothing short of inspiring.’
Marlena continues, ‘Our first teacher, Tokkie Moses, was very committed, selling flowers in the morning and then coming to help with the kids. Ellen Silinga, a domestic worker who lived in the township, became our first qualified preschool teacher. And so we grew, and as we grew, we educated more and more children.’
Reflecting on their impact, Marlena recalls, ‘Local women gathered at Little Lambs, and we’d teach them to do domestic work, like how to sew and use a washing machine and a vacuum cleaner. They made beautiful handbags with T-Bag designs. It became a very social place.’
While nurturing, educating and feeding children remain at the core of their mission, it all began with assisting women and receiving their invaluable assistance in return. This legacy endures, with the board members, principals, teachers and major funders all being women. The continuous support from remarkable women, notably Elke Zwicker, Marlis Schaper and the Kinderhilfe Kapstadt organisation, has been instrumental in Little Lambs’ sustained growth.
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The institution, now well-established, is primarily managed by the women it employs, with external funding and some administrative tasks being exceptions.
Marlena acknowledges the importance of ongoing funding, especially from the Cape Town community.
She explains, ‘We are always looking for more funding, especially from the Cape Town community. By supporting our children, your money empowers the entire IY community because parents can work, teachers get qualified and we employ locals and buy locally, so there is a large community upliftment element. We have 300 kids, so we directly impact 300 families.’
The management of Little Lambs falls under the SEEDS (Schooling, Education, Empowerment, Development and Support) Trust, also established by the van der Walt family in 2015.
Roger Falls, general manager of SEEDS Trust, remarks, ‘The SEEDS Trust has expanded to work on various projects, but Little Lambs is one of our most successful, for the kids and the teachers who are all level 4 (Grade R) qualified. For our kids, we have achieved an education level where they are sought out by primary schools because they can read and understand what they are reading.’
Looking ahead, Little Lambs’ future appears promising. After years of dedicated leadership, cherished headmistress Geraldine Daniels has retired, passing the torch to the highly qualified Ethel Kubalasa. Ethel’s vision centres on collaborative leadership with teachers, fostering growth in classrooms and inspiring positive change within the Little Lambs community.
She emphasises, ‘It is my wish to lead with wisdom, truth and vision for Little Lambs Christian Daycare to help shape the minds, conscience and future, respectively. I am not just a principal; I have to inspire others, to change people (children, teachers, parents and the community) and to never give up even when faced with challenges that seem impossible.’
Roger expresses optimism about the institution’s future, fuelled by the incredible community spirit in Hout Bay. With the school positioned on the boundary between the suburbs and the township, it embodies the remarkable synergy between different communities.
To offer support to Little Lambs, please visit www.littlelambs.org.za or proceed directly to the donation page: https://www.givengain.com/cc/give-a-gift/.
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Picture: Supplied