About this Playcare

By far one of the most interesting and inspiring places we work is Cape Town, South Africa’s Khayelitsha Township. South Africa’s townships were areas attached to its major cities where all it’s non-white residents were forced to live during the apartheid era. Although these racial segregation policies ended in the early 1990s most of the township residents were unable to afford the move to city centers and have put down permanent roots there. Today Khayelitsha is South Africa’s largest and fastest growing township with a staggering 2,500,000 people. Despite this growth Khayelitsha is still mostly informal, with many people living in shacks without access to power or plumbing.

Ntombi Mani has been running a daycare out of informal Khayelitsha for nearly ten years now. With the help of four teachers she takes care of nearly 70 children ages 0-5. Her center, like many in Khayelitsha, has a long waiting of local parents waiting to get their children enrolled. Unfortunately a shack on a small piece of land isn’t the kind of thing that can be easily upgraded. Knowing this Ntombi has spent years saving up for a brand new, formal center, on a piece of land she owns nearby. She actually started building it a year ago but ran out of money, leaving only the shell of the first of two planned floors. A few months ago we heard Ntombi’s story and saw an amazing opportunity to step in and help a passionate owner build her dream school.

Together we’re building a brand new school with Ntombi. Once we’re done it will serve over a hundred students in Khayelitsha with quality early education. By choosing to lay your brick and become a founder of this Playcare you’ll be making that a reality. You’ll receive updates on the progress of this Playcare as we build it and you’ll see the thousands of lives you’ve touched as children are put on the path to reach their full potential. Lay your brick and help build the future for these students today.