Hlumelo Educare Centre and Aftercare Specializes in children with Autism

As we just closed the Heritage month, in celebration of our diverse cultures and traditions, we had a very special heritage day.
We taught the children of our unique cultures and beliefs that which brings us closer.
We touched on stories as well as the different backgrounds we have. It was truly an amazing day.🥰

On Thursday, the 18th of July, we celebrated Mandela Day.
We taught the children the history of Nelson Mandela, history of South Africa and also about the importance of education.

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Last week Tuesday Erica, Amahle and Dawney from The Little Optimist Trust (https://thelittleoptimisttrust.org/) came to visit us for a book reading session together with our regular guests Silvana and Msafiri.

Once all the children and teachers were seated around the visitors, Amahle and Dawney started to read from the story book https://thelittleoptimist.org/books/ in Xhosa and truly inspired everybody.

The book was telling the story of the Little Optimist which was the smallest boat by the harbour, while other boats disrespected and didn't have faith in it. Because the Little Optimist had a good heart and was very ambitious, there was faith that it'd one day be able to get into the sea. One day, one of the big boats, House Boat's anchor broke and it sunk in the sea. The Little Optimist was the only boat that was able to help the house boat. Thus making the Little Optimist happy that it'd been able to help the house boat and the Little Optimist’s dream of being able to get into the sea came true.

Through this story the children have learned that it is important to have dreams and make them come true and not to give up no matter what the people say.
We, as teachers, have learned that it is important to teach and encourage our kids to follow their dreams.

Big thank you to the visitors for the kind donation with all the beautiful toys, which the children love and spending quality time with us by reading this absolutely inspirational storybook.

Happy father's day to all the wonderful fathers out there! ❤️

Happy mother's day to all the precious mothers!❤️

On the 26th of April, we closed our Autism month by having our sports day. The children participated in the games, which were water racing, sack racing, soccer and they had a wonderful time dancing to the music that was being played. We had such a fantastic day! 🥳🥳
A big thank you to the Hlumelo Educare Staff! ❤️

It’s been a great privilege for the whole of the Hlumelo Educare Team together with 28 kids, including Hlumelo himself as well as 12 teachers spending a whole day out at the Two Oceans Aquarium (https://www.aquarium.co.za) and Waterfront last week Friday.

We’d like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Silvana, who started this by sending out a motivational letter to the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation, Robyn and her team to sponsor the visit of most of our children and teachers and by doing so investing in our community and inspiring the next generation!

Thanks to Koelsum for giving us an insightful tour including the puppet show on "keep the beach clean" and raising awareness to not litter.
We also watched the penguin feeding, saw and learnt in a very interactive way about the different types of sea animals, big and small as well as the amazing kelp forest!

Big applause to the Two Oceans Aquarium and the amazing work they do while trying to keep our ocean more clean and healthy for all its animals and plants!👏👏👏
They have such a wonderful and inclusive program as it accomodates all children of different ages and our autistic children were truly fascinated.

Last but not least a special thank you to Anna and her sister Greta from Germany for sponsoring our healthy lunch and paying for the outstanding entrance fees through their fundraiser.

We wrapped up our day by being taken around the Waterfront by our special tour guide, getting to see the gateway to Robben Island as well as the Noble Square.

We truly had such a wonderful day and will remember it for long!🐧🦈🐠

Last weekend one of our class teacher's(Nyameka) and myself as the Principal attended a training workshop organized by Grow ECD (https://www.growecd.org.za) on “Autism in the Classroom”.
It was a very informative morning and we learnt a lot about how to get to know our autistic learners better, sensory integration tools and behavioral management during classes.
We also got the chance of networking with parents with autistic children, teachers as well as with organisations like Autism Connect( https://m.facebook.com/AutismConnectMP) and Autism So What.
During the training session we also learnt some words in the Makaton language (https://makaton.co.za/what-is-makaton), which we will try to teach our learners and incorporate during classes.

This would not have been possible without the kind sponsorship from 🇨🇭by Nico, Bea and Tomi and we truly appreciated the opportunity to attend.

On Friday 8th of March, we attended the Gugulethu Forum Sports Day. The children had so much fun and they enjoyed their day!🥳

On 14 February 2024, we celebrated Valentine’s Day at Hlumelo Educare.
We wore our bright red and white colours and received wonderful gifts like books, so many toys and clothes from Dani, Regine, Bubbles and Gerlinde.
The children enjoyed this lovely surprise and were very happy to also being able to take some toys and clothes back home.♥️🙏
We're truly greatful for these donations.
And for all the teachers and Mums back home, the kids were given beautiful chocolate treats donated by Robin & Judy.
We had also had 2 lovely visitors over, Msafiri and Silvana, who facilitated with all these gifts… Always wonderful having you guys around🥰

Happy and blessed New Year to the Hlumelo Educare family!

I would like to thank the co-operation and support we have received over the past few months from:
- parents
- ⁠children of Hlumelo Educare
- ⁠staff members
- ⁠community of New Crossroads
Without your involvement, Hlumelo Educare wouldn’t have been established while we currently assist up to 62 kids.
I hope and trust that our relationship and cooperation will remain strong in 2024.💪

I would like to make a special gratitude to the following people for their support in making changes (development) in our ECD namely:
- Silvana for constantly supporting, mentoring and getting so many donations supplied for the ECD as well as in assisting us to become fully registered.
- ⁠Gerlinde for helping with renovating the classrooms and the roof as well as children’s clothes.
- ⁠Annett & Uwe for assisting with the renovations of the classrooms and the roof.
- ⁠Rodger from Flawless Engineering for donating boards that will divide the classrooms.
- ⁠Regine and Kyra for donating so much clothes for the children.
- ⁠Samuel and Lilly for the fundraiser at their kindergarten to supply us with 10 kids scooters.
- ⁠Sonja, Jan & Children for donating clothes and toys for the children.
- ⁠Dani & Family for their wonderful visit, donating learning resources for the children and also the gifts they brought along.
- ⁠Elze from KBAC Flooring for all carpets they donated.
- ⁠Kathi & Family for her generous Christmas donation.
- ⁠Angela & Alfons for their Christmas box filled with sweets and other presents.
- ⁠David for donating all the strawberry plants we could plant, grow and enjoy eating.

Finally, I would like to thank also the following organisations:
- Ikamva Labantu
- ⁠Children of South Africa(CHOSA)
- ⁠Thembalethu
-Grow Network & Programme

May we all have a wonderful year ahead and I hope that 2024 will be a year where our centre will grow and be better!