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Decades of being concerned for the well being of the Meerlust workforce have culminated in the establishment of The Meerlust Foundation.
The mission of the Meerlust Foundation is to provide a safe and stimulating environment for the children of the farm workers.
The programme started years back as a small crèche, and has since 2000 developed into a programme which has an educational, social skills and developmental focus. Currently the Foundation is managed by a social worker and employs 11 staff members. The Foundation is funded solely by Meerlust.
The vision of the Foundation is to create an opportunity for every Meerlust child to be in a position to decide what he or she would like to do with his/her life. Over the last decade most of the children have completed at least five years more schooling then their parents had opportunity to complete.
This places them in a much stronger position than their parents when it comes to choosing a career. Children who in 2000/2001 had no idea what career they would like to follow, now have dreams for their futures.
To make the vision of the Foundation a reality four sub programmes have been developed:
1. Early Childhood development - A full day crèche managed by an Occupational Therapist and a team of educarers. Their goal is to provide a safe and stimulating environment for the under five year olds on Meerlust.
2. A health and nutritional programme - staffed by a health worker, a cook and an assistant. Children receive age appropriate, wholesome meals and snacks. The health worker is available to do primary health care checks, advise crèche staff and parents and give public education to teenagers and adults.
3. After school programme - The after school programme has three main objectives. Firstly we ensure that all school children attend school regularly and are supported in any way possible with their school careers. Secondly the after school programme focuses on preparing children to be successful at whatever they attempt through a life and social skills approach to all activities. Thirdly the children are provided with opportunities to engage in a variety of educational, sport and extra mural activities. An ongoing attempt is made to identify and develop individual talent (at the expense of the Foundation).
4. Finally the Foundation has staff qualified to provide parents and adults on the farm with individual and family counseling, crisis intervention, opportunities to play sport and some opportunity for adult education. Over the last eight years there has been a significant reduction in the incidence of social and domestic violence. Habitual problem drinking remains a challenge but there seems to be a gradual change in the pattern of drinking.
Over and above the work done by the Foundation for the Meerlust community there are opportunities for student training, volunteering and research.
Earlier this year, the manager of the Foundation completed a Master's thesis entitled "The Lived Experience of Farm Workers in the Western Cape", which traced the lived experience of farm workers on wine farms from the early days of Slavery to the current day.
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