Dagbreek House

A friendly hello to everyone who reads this.

Our Children and Youth Care Centre in Bloemfontein has 10 houses: six for boys and four for girls. Our house is known as Dagbreek ("Dawn" in English). What a beautiful name! It consists of 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, pantry, lounge/dining room and laundry room. We provide a home and caring for 10 girls, aged from 12 to 16 years.

My name is Annatjie and I am the child care worker. I enjoy my work, because I love children. I try to make a difference in their lives. We laugh, cry and play together and we care about each other.

The girls attend several schools in Bloemfontein, where they actively participate in extra mural activities. One plays rugby and takes part in athletics, while another is an avid drum majorette. They are all very pleased with the schools they attend.

Various activities, like swimming, soccer, pool and Aikido are also available at Our Children and Youth Care Centre. On Friday evenings they gather at the Centre's coffee shop. Some of the girls do court dancing. One of the girls in our house is a leader at the centre.

We are supported by the Dutch Reformed Church congregations of Pellissier, Heuwelkruin and Onze Rust. They bring gifts and sweets to celebrate birthdays. We are very proud of "our" congregations.

At the moment we have an exchange student from Germany volunteering at our house. The children love it when she tells them about Germany.

As far as possible we try to provide in all the basic needs of the children, so that they can be empowered to believe in and to take care of themselves.