The adage that the kitchen is the heart of the home, is
very true and the boys living in House 2 of Bramley Children’s Home in
Groenkloof, experienced a broken heart!
Due to aging buildings Bramley’s houses are all in desperate need of
some love and repair – but especially the kitchen in House 2 was in urgent need
of renovation.
It goes without saying that a kitchen renovation (or any
other renovation, for that matter) does not form part of our annual budget. The
value of volunteers can never be underestimated – Celest van Niekerk, vice
Chairperson of Child Welfare Tshwane’s Board of Management, mobilised her large
network. They responded and some good Samaritans
teamed-up and transformed the once sad kitchen into a happy place!
First we received a donation of kitchen cupboards from Lize
van Rensburg but then we needed someone to install. Verner Schultz and JP Hugo were on site to
help us with another project and said they will install the cupboards! As with all renovations, once you start on
one end, you must replace other items as well to complete the picture.
Hans & Riana Karemaker donated some paint to Bramley
for another house and fortunately we had enough to even cover the kitchen. Charlie Martins, from Ceregran Tiles, donated some tiles and then with his friend, Ian Scott, jumped in to do the tiling
as well! The cupboards were painted by
Bianca and Odette, a fresh new look! Our lovely cupboards needed new tops, and
these were donated by Ceregran as well.
We were so blessed that we could get this all done by the
weekend before the President announced the national lockdown. House 2 was buzzing with activity as all the
volunteers were rushing to get everything done and we finished just in
time!
An unintended, but greatly
appreciated, consequence of the project was that the boys in House 2 all helped!
It is the house for the older boys, and they all offered to do something - and in doing so they learned some handy life
skills like using tools properly, finishing a task and working in a team with
volunteers.
Not only do these boys now
take ownership of their kitchen and want to keep it looking good – they will
also enjoy the food that is prepared for them in this space even more! The renovation helped our therapy process in
that something new and neat helps build a person’s self-esteem and gives them
pride!
We give a big shout out to all
the volunteers who so kindly donated, participated and shared in our joy! We have now embarked on a process of upgrading
and renovating our Children’s Home. There is an enormous amount of maintenance
and improvements that need to be done at Bramley. All these improvements and renovations will
have a positive impact on the children’s emotional status as well - you want to
help us, please contact Caren Malherbe
on 082 836 5583.
We need your skills and your time!
Donate your redundant furniture, fridges, deep freezers, bedding, mattresses
and curtains to us once we can move around again! If you are a keen gardener, plumber or
electrician with some spare capacity and a caring heart we ask that you please
sign up for this project.
Let us make Bramley
beautiful! Help us to make a difference
and change lives!
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