Karen Dreyer

What does your company do?

Melkbos Care Centre supports children through their career in education. We serve children by providing Early Education for children between 2 and 6 years and thereafter we support them by providing transport, food and school lunch as well as subsidised clothing. Each child in school also receives their stationery for the year as and when they need it. Every senior girl receives her monthly sanitary products from us and where possible we provide toiletries to children on a monthly basis. To support life skills training, we partner with other NPO's and corporates to provide holiday programmes. We also have volunteers who assist the senior children with applications to colleges and university. Our aim is to support children to stay in school as long as they can and preferably to obtain matric. Should a child's journey be different, we aim to assist them to obtain a higher level of education through internships and learnerships. Our services are supported by the income from our Charity shop and donations from the public.

What is your biggest success?

Our greatest achievement is the enabling of children to attend the local schools on par with their peers and to bring the hope of furthering their careers and become employable. The establishment of our own Pre-school in 2018 has been a certian highlight.

What has been your biggest hurdle?

The involvement of parents in the education of their children is still a massive hurdle. Many children come from severe poverty and parents who are unemployed and who suffer from addiction. The trauma that our children experience is also a hurdle that needs to be constantly adressed.