HAPPY CHILD FOUNDATION
makes a difference one bowl full at a time!
Founded and funded by NewGroup (Pty) Ltd, The HAPPY CHILD FOUNDATION (HCF) continues to make a difference in the community of Nkanini, Khayelitsha during the lockdown period,
by helping those in need.
In South Africa, many children go to school hungry everyday as their families do not have the means to feed them at home. This is how the HCF offers a helping hand. Together with Joint Aid Management (JAM), the HCF provides underprivileged children with a hot bowl of porridge to fill their stomachs daily, at the HCF school in Nkanini.
In preparation for the lockdown period, the HCF taught the children how to wash their hands effectively to protect themselves against COVID 19. The children were also given porridge to take home with them and every couple of weeks their mothers go to the HCF to top up their supplies. The HCF wants to make sure that they continue their mission of feeding hungry children, despite the national lockdown.
Under normal circumstances, the HCF provides a safe and nurturing environment for children to play, learn and grow. Currently, they care for around one hundred children, between ages 2 and 6, offering Early Childhood Development, which they call “brain boost and story reading”. The HCF library is also open to other school children to borrow books and read.
The community leaders granted the HCF their own plot of land, where they have a container classroom, library and a playground for the children. The HCF has become an integral part of the local community, even to being central to wider community affairs – the trust between the HCF and the community is apparent.
The HCF is managed by Sandiso Thembela Nkwankwa, fondly known as Benji, with the help of Elsie, the full time assistant at HCF and involved in all the activities. Benji has been working with the HCF since 2009 and says “it is a blessed feeling for me to be part of this project as it is solving a social challenge that even our government fails to solve, through education and building the nutrition of our kids, also it’s more of investing to the brighter future in our townships”.
For over 10 years ago, NEWGROUP (Pty) Ltd, the holding company of Herbex Health, Sela Health, Regal Pet Health, My Natural hair and Cannabex, has been helping the community of Nkanini, Khayelitsha by offering support and assistance to the HAPPY CHILD FOUNDATION in various ways (container, library, playground, school maintenance, vegetable gardens and more).
NewGroup (Pty) Ltd will continue to support the HCF and hopes to expand the HCF even further after lockdown, to encourage greater literacy, love of reading and student referencing.
Our future plans include providing computers for students to use for computer literacy and school research. As funds become available we will roll out our computer literacy programme, to further enrich the community.
