Press releases

A brief history ...
The Langlaagte Children's home was established in 1902 by Reverend Abraham Kriel with 7 orphans in one corrugated iron building; in 1908 Marie Kloppers Children's Haven was established by Marie Kloppers to care for unwanted babies. Since then the Childcare Centre has grown with Emdeni Children's home in Soweto to address the street children problem, and satellite homes are established in ordinary suburbs, including the Zola Drop-in Centre.

The children they care for ...
Emdeni Campus takes care of 39 children aged 12 to 18 who have been severely traumatized and often need specialist care. It was started in 1979 by the Uniting Reformed Church and was taken over by Abraham Kriel Children's Home in 1995 and forms part of a family of childcare campuses run by Abraham Kriel Childcare. The other two campuses are the Langlaagte campus and Maria Kloppers campuses. A significant portion of children taken care of by the campus is difficult to place because of "complex" trauma or illness. This results in the children spending a large part of their childhood at the campus.

The Zola Drop-in Centre provides meals everyday to nearly 100 children affected by HIV/AIDS in Emdeni. Children come to the centre every morning on their way to school and receive a bowl of porridge. After school they receive a plate of food with pap or rice and some meat and vegetables. They also take home two buttered sandwiches (four slices of bread) for their evening meal. This service is offered everyday including weekends.

A retired teacher runs remedial classes for the children and volunteers supervise homework sessions at the centre. The Methodist Church runs a Sunday school, which the children are involved in and Abraham Kriel Childcare occasionally takes the children on excursions or outings.

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