Vikelani Abantwana Crèche

August 14, 2014 – I am thrilled to report that all of the money for this construction project has been raised! I will update this page with progress on the building and the organization that will operate it in the coming weeks. For now I just want to reiterate how grateful I am for everyone who donated their money, their time and their talents to making this possible, especially friends and family in Youngstown, Ohio and Phoenix, Arizona.

-Erik

Empowering parents & children

Vikelani Abantwana Crèche was created by a caring group of villagers to assist working families in protecting their most valuable asset: their children. For working parents, a safe and educational place for their young children provides peace of mind during the work day … peace of mind while they work hard to provide for their families. The center provides daycare, empowering families to improve their finances and overall wellbeing. Parents are able to attend work and school. The cultural and economic impact of Vikelani Abantwana Crèche is limitless.

• provides a safe, nurturing environment for children 4 and under during the day
• enables young, single mothers to maintain employment or further their education
• provides a supervised after-school club for young school-aged children needing a place to do homework and wait for their parents to come home from work
• enables other family members staying at home to focus on their own abilities and capacity, such as studying, farming, or other business opportunities
• provides employment and volunteer opportunities to qualified teachers and caregivers in the community

They’ve secured land in an easily accessible, central location of the village to construct a 100 square-meter building from blueprints that were finalized this past February. Now the exciting part of creating a legacy of empowerment for the people of this village in Northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa begins. As an adopted member of the village during my Peace Corps tenure, I am excited to be a part of this history making project. I invite you to join me in this historical and empowering project. Funding is a way to help the current and future generations. In the near future, I’ll give details about how you can help the ongoing needs of this organization.

Sincere thanks for your support.
– Erik