Work completed in 2002.
The region
Prince Albert is situated at the foot of the Swartberg Pass 45km from the N1 (national road) between Laingsburg and Leeu Gamka. Although it is pictureque, poverty and unemployment levels of high. Those that are employed within the previously disenfranchised community are mainly engaged in elementary occupations such as farm and household labour.
PASCaP's work
PASCaP offered an After School Development Practitioner Learning Programme to the communities of Prince Albert and Leeu Gamka from May to October 2001. Twenty eight persons graduated from this programme, with 16 enrolling in the Mentorship phase.
There have been many positive developments as a result of this programme:
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The first after school centres for children and youth were initiated in Prince Albert and Leeu Gamka |
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Once these centres are registered and State subsidised, they will provide employment for over 20 persons and develop over 200 children and youth daily. |
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Bambino After School Centre has been established in Prince Albert in November 2001 and reaches more than 50 children daily. |
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Once registered and subsidised, Bambino will provide employment for 2 persons who were previously dependant on State grants. |
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An after school project, Takalani, in the informal settlement in Prince Albert has also been established. Assistance from a church and local government helped in the initiation of this project. Takalani will provide employment for a minimum of 3 women as soon as it is registered and subsidized. Takalani reaches up to 40 children daily. |
Current status of work
The mentorship programme of six months has been terminated. The first phase of this programme was aimed at formalising project operations to ensure that centres meet the criteria for State registration and subsidization. Thereafter, the focus of work was on strengthening programming skills and steamlining project management operations. After school care projects have been encouraged to form Associations for each region owing to their close proximity which will hamper their qualification to register separately as Places of Care. In Leeu Gamka the Children and Youth After School Centre is operating in one school using separate classrooms and they will be registered as Leeu Gamka Child and Youth After School Association. In Prince Albert Bambino and Takalani are operating in different venues and in different areas but both the areas are within two kilometers, so they will be registering as Prince Albert Child and Youth After School Association.