About 120 children attended each day of the Bridgetown Moravian Church’It s annual holiday programme which was held from Monday July 10 until Friday July 14.
It included various activities such as learning how to make a photo frame and fruit basket.
They also had awareness talks, including those from the police dog unit; the fire brigade; traffic department and ambulance service. The different church branches from Steenberg, Wynberg, Bridgetown, Gugulethu, Maranata, Hanover Park and Bishop Lavis were involved.
Leigh Francis, from the Wynberg Moravian Church, said most children didn’t have anywhere to go during the school holidays.
“They sit at home and that’s where the trouble starts. They become involved with bad things because they have so much spare time on their hands. This teaches them to aspire to be someone they thought they couldn’t be,” she said.
This year’s theme was “Fruit of the spirit”, focusing on love, kindness, peace and joy.
Chandre Moses, district chairperson for the Cape Town South region, explained that the older children learnt about patience as they took the lead with the younger ones.
She said the children were able to meet new friends, and learn about various cultures and places.
“Despite the challenges they face, they can make the right decisions.
“Some of them feel quite alone so we want to teach them that God is with them, they are not alone. When they leave here, we want them to make a change in themselves, their families and in their community,” she said.