René Kids Centre, the wonderland of hope
Many children live in dreary circumstances in areas with lots of ramshackle abodes of corrugated metal where most people have no basic education.These are the realities for most youths in the Block E settlement in Rehoboth.
However, the establishment and opening of René Kids Centre on 14 November 2014 in Rehoboth has somewhat brought sunlight to these dim situations.
“A couple of years ago marathon skater René Ruitenberg visited Rehoboth and in Block E he met Magdelena Kanana, an elderly lady who gave refuge and food to the children of the community while she told them about Jesus.
“Her dream was to take the youth out of the environment of poverty, HIV/Aids and hopelessness and to introduce them to the word of God. René and his wife were very touched by this and it resulted in plans to build a centre for hopeless children,” said Willemien Bosch, who runs the centre. “When I heard about the centre, I decided to be part of it because I’m passionate about helping young people.
“We assist children from the local community that are struggling in school, have failed their grades or who have parents that consume too much alcohol and use drugs. Some of these parents tell us that it is not their fault because the children bluntly refuse to go to school and that they can’t force them.”
Willemien adds that the centre is a place of faith and that the money for the construction and the programmes for the children is raised by donations and fundraising events. “We don’t get sponsorship from the government even though we have applied several times to the Ministry of Education for a grant; we solely depend on sponsorship from Holland,” she said.
Activities offered by the centre
Willemien says the centre offers a Kids Club that draws about 400 young children. They spend the day singing, listening to Bible stories and doing creative work. “This takes place every Monday and the target group is from the age of 4-16 years. Dutch and Namibian volunteers work with them,” Willemien said enthusiastically. “Another activity is the Youth Night. It takes place every Friday night and young people from grade 8 worship and do Bible meditation.” Willemien added that those that are committed to follow Christ, are encouraged to follow a discipleship course of one year.
“There is also a homework class attended by about 45 youth. They get a meal, get helped with their homework and take part in sport and other activities.”
Willemien says that there is also hope for those who are already too old and those that have never attended regular school. They offer a four year learning programme to help them read and write. “After this we aim to find an apprenticeship or work placement for them,” she said.
What the youth at the centre say
“The best part of the day is when we play games, take part in different sports and after that take a shower,” said Moring Swartbooi.
Roberto Beukes added that he likes being part of the center because they help children that have never gone to school before. “They help you to get a job so that you can be somebody one day,” he said.
Raymond Draghoender shared their sentiments and said that he also likes the school programmes at the centre as it helps youth who don’t attend school.
Future plans
“There is a need for proper housing facilities for young people, but at the moment we are just a day time centre and don’t offer housing facilities,” said Willemien sadly.
“However, the future is bright because we are looking at an agricultural project that will offer employment to the youth so that they can be self sufficient.
“There will also be a sport facility that will help them to develop their talents and towards the end of the year we will also have a half marathon for them to take part in.”
Willemien concluded that they cannot do this work without financial support and urges local people and the business community to help make these dreams a reality.
