Last Tuesday I went with the Rev. Mel Baars and 30 orphan children to wine country. Don't get the wrong idea, we didn't go to do wine tasting, we went to visit a school for orphaned and vulnerable children. Bridging Academy sits on a 12.5 acre farm about 45 minutes from Cape Town in the beautiful countryside of Franschoek. The area is surrounded by mountains, wine farms and olive groves. The Academy opened in January 2008 by an American couple from Santa Barbara, Dennis and Susan Wadley. Their goal was to be able to offer a safe place for orphaned and vulnerable children and to give them the opportunity to receive a good education along with a stable living environment. The school started with 30 children, in 2009 they grew to 40 and for 2010 are looking to enroll 50 - 60 orphaned and vulnerable children. Each year they intend to gradually increase the enrollment until they reach their capacity of 100 students from grades 5 - 12. Their staff consists of a Principal, 5 full-time teachers, 5 house parents, 3 part-time teachers, a counselor, a social worker and an administrator. Bridging Academy is a fully accredited school by the South African Education Department. Besides their required courses, the children participate in the maintenance of the farm, meal preparation and learning entrepreneurial skills by contributing to the Academy Gift Shop.
The cost for a child is as follows:
Room and Board: $100 per month
Books, Uniforms, Supplies, Transportation, Field Trips, Birthday, etc: $50 per month
Teachers, House Parents, Principal's salaries: $200 per month
The 30 children from the orphan program from the JL Zwane centre were invited to Bridging Academy for the day for assessment into the program. The children were first given a tour of the grounds, the rooms where they would sleep, the school area and the eating/kitchen area. (The buildings are beautiful, the architecture was Arts and Crafts, very comfortable and fit right in with the scenery.) After the tour they all assembled to hear the rules of the school, (I realized listening to some of the rules that many of these children have not been taught certain life skills that we take for granted, ie: proper use of a washroom, how to dispose of garbage, how to take care of the area in which they live.) and the itinerary for a typical school day. After the question and answer period was over it was time for the hard part, the assessment tests! The children broke up into their age groups and were handed the tests that would determine their acceptance into the program. They were very nervous but also very excited. I could tell that many of them were also very scared. After the alloted time for the assessment test they had lunch of chicken, rice and vegetables. After lunch each child had a one on one interview with the principal, the teachers and the social worker. It was a very long day but one filled with excitement and wonderment at what their future held.
That evening I received an email from Mel. The school had accepted 20 children, this was a very momentous occasion. A new relationship was being forged between the JL Zwane Centre and Bridging Academy for the future of many orphaned and vulnerable children from the townships!
Photos:
1. Ready to leave for Franschhoek!
2. Bridging Academy.
3. Girls bedroom.
4. Getting ready for the assessment test.
Bye for now...
