Graceland serves the poorer farming community in the outskirts of Stellenbosh by providing a preschool to stimulate over 60 children who might otherwise be left at home alone or on the streets.

Friday, April 20, 2012

April News

Beshrin in his Graceland days
The fruits of our labour are truly starting to show! Last year some of the first little ones we taught graduated matric! Amongst them was Beshrin Van Niekerk. Beshrin is the eldest of four children and grew up in Devon Valley. He has fond memories of us and can remember singing ‘Father Abraham had many sons’! He told us that as he was studying it was often a battle with so many siblings and he often had to wait to do homework until late at night when everyone was asleep. But his hard work and dedication has paid off and he is now studying at Cape Town University after receiving a bursary to study IT. We are confident that a bright future is ahead of him and are thankful that we are able to offer a fantastic head start in education to children like Bershrin, whom otherwise may not have been able to attend preschool. If all the children we care for grasp hold of the opportunities in front of them, like Beshrin has done, then there is so much potential for their generation to shake the bonds of poverty and we will be reassured that we are on the right path of ‘restoring hope by developing people to a point of self-reliance’ as our mission statement declares! Exciting times!

Beshrin, a successful student!