The Moravian Church in Bridgetown will again host a winter school programme this July, to keep youth of all ages occupied during the holidays. This year’s theme will be music.
The programme, from Monday July 4 to Friday July 8, with a service on Sunday at the Moravian Church, will include sport, arts and crafts, singing and puppet shows. Participants will also learn how to play musical instruments.
Each day will start at 8.30am with a morning devotion, followed by breakfast and activities until lunch at 1pm.
The programme is scheduled to end at about 3pm every day.
In 2012, programme coordinator Constance van der Rede saw a need to keep the community’s children busy and off the streets during the school holidays.
“We will teach them about God’s word and also about how to behave properly and express their creative side through arts and crafts. The parents are very happy about this programme because now they will know where their children are and that they are safe. Most of the children are underprivileged so a cooked meal will be nice.”
Donations from the church’s congregation and the community has helped keep the programme going for the past four years.
On the last day, Friday, Ms Van der Rede usually takes the children on an excursion. Last year they visited Table Mountain and they year before it was Kirstenbosch.
This year’s excursion has yet to be confirmed.
Ms Van der Reede said children were often so excited about the programme that they sometimes forgot to wash their faces before they came to the church.
“I have to tell them ‘Please, please go wash your face quickly before we start,’ ” she said.
Children from Bridgetown, Kewtown, and Silvertown will be among those attending the programme, which usually caters for between 80 and 100 children.
Call Ms Van der Rede at 084 090 4308 for more information.