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Christel House South Africa From Our Perspective

November 18, 2008 by Fractional Property Ownership, Timeshare & Luxury Travel Magazine · Leave a Comment

This is an article we previously ran in Perspective Magazine in January 2008, and we look forward to bringing a follow up article to this in Owners Perspective Magazine in the new year after we return to witness the opening of the new school…

Perspective Magazine has been supporting Christel House for the past two years now, yet we’ll be the first to admit that up until we were invited to attend a recent event in South Africa last November, we didn’t really understand exactly how the charity worked, or how many people they helped.

We thought that a Christel House was an orphanage for homeless children who whilst staying there were also educated to help them build a better future for themselves.

We were partly right on the education side but way off the mark really with our overall perception, so this made us think – how many other people in the industry, who know the name Christel House also don’t quite understand the magnitude of just how much this charity impacts children’s lives and put simply why we should all lend a helping hand?

This article follows the course of our few days in Cape Town, South Africa where we were invited by Christel House to attend the groundbreaking ceremony of their new school in this region, including our reactions, emotions and frustrations at what we experienced and witnessed during our stay…

Upon arriving at Cape Town airport we were picked up by air-conditioned private car and taken to the outskirts of the city to where we were staying – a luxury boutique guest house in the Claremont district; basically a fabulous gated villa that has just five suites decorated to extremely high standards with service to match. In the early evening we had been invited to attend the Club Leisure Group Trustee’s Dinner along with members of the Christel House team. We were taken to the venue, a three storey restaurant called “Five Flies“, complete with private dining rooms, conference rooms and bars.

After welcome drinks we were taken to a dedicated conference room where we were introduced to the staff of Christel House that were in attendance and to the Club Leisure Group Team. A fabulous dinner followed to round off the evening before the main event started the following day.

The next morning saw an early start and short journey to the current Christel House school in South Africa. Having driven through several parts of the country in the week prior (see next month’s edition for a review on the South Africa Timeshare Market) we had already witnessed some of the poverty, with whole settlements living in shacks so we were thinking back to our perception of orphanages, but as we arrived outside the school and saw the size of it, and realized that it looked just like a “real” school our journey of discovery was about to begin.

THE CHILDREN IN SCHOOL
When we entered the school you could sense the level of excitement from the children bustling around the corridors about their special guests’ visit and why they were all here. Their main focus as expected would always be on seeing Christel DeHaan herself, some of them for the first time, but you could tell by their curiosity that they were also excited about meeting some of the other supporters that financially help to make their education possible. All the visitors were given name badges and then shown into a large main hall where children from the two Christel House School buildings had been congregated
for a welcome assembly. All the children looked smart and presentable in their school uniforms representing grades 1 through 10; a total of 519 students. Our first perception was eradicated, this was no orphanage, this looked like, and is a fully fledged school in every sense of the word.

The assembly opened with a magnificent rendition of the Christel House nominated school anthem which sounded more like a professional choir than a school assembly, but this would barely scratch the surface on what was to come. More music followed, but this time from a selection of children on the stage and accompanied by members of the school band, complete with trumpets, keyboards, drums, guitars and more. Then there was a first glimpse of just how important school life is to the children themselves, when they loudly clapped, cheered and wolf whistled in support and celebration of those learners who received certificates for their outstanding efforts. First was little Zandile Sehemo of class 4B as the “Achiever Of The Week” awarded “for demonstrating an eagerness to behave responsibly, with respect and for showing consistent determination to make positive changes in her life”.

Next up was Valentino Scholtz from 10B, another “Achiever Of The Week” awarded “for showing admirable qualities by always being polite, pleasant and leading by example and for demonstrating good social skills and being very helpful in class”.

Then Samuel Davids of 5B and Odwa Budaza of 10B were awarded the “Quarterly Core Value Award for Integrity 2007”. Christel DeHaan then took to the stage to present the prestigious “Christel Award” for 2007 to Natalie Hudson and to announce a new surprise award. For this award all of the previous winners of the Christel Award since 2002 were invited up on stage. The newest and most prestigious award was announced as the Nelson Mandela Leadership Award” and this went to Nontango Bonga, (winner of the Christel Award 2004). But as well as winning the award the main surprise was that the recipient was also awarded 10,000 rand to put towards university fees; then all other previous winners of the Christel Award were also given 5,000 rand towards their fees.

Following the awards we were treated to more examples of the talents that these students have in public speaking, singing, dancing and instrument playing. First was a display of native dancing from members of the youngest classes at Christel House, followed by further dance routines from a group of girls from the middle school classes, performances from the school band and a phenomenal contemporary ballet piece – all of which in our opinion would rival and probably beat many schools in the UK. After a few final thank you messages we were introduced to a group of students who were in the running team and were going to carry the Christel House Banner from the school to a few kilometres away where the groundbreaking ceremony for their new school was about to take place.

THE GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY
After a short minibus ride we arrived at the location for the new school set to be built by early 2009. The current school buildings in Cape Town have to be rented and now are very full without the space for the introduction of more learners, so Christel DeHaan with the help of Helen Zille, Mayor of Cape Town spent a long time trying to cut through red tape to make the new site for a larger school that they can really call their own possible.

The new site, a public-private collaboration through a lease from the City of Cape Town provides approximately 18 acres for a 30 year term plus two 10 year renewal options and at a cost amazingly of around just $30US per year, allowing Christel House to save money on the previous rental costs and concentrate that money on the introduction of more children. When the new facility opens there will be the introduction of a kindergarten year before grade 1 and an extension at the other end allowing present learners to stay at their school right up to grade 12, after which they can hopefully progress to college and university. These extensions will grow Christel House South Africa to accommodate approximately 650 students.

In addition to Christel House, the new site of 18 acres is large enough to include other non-profit organizations, making it a community service zone that will offer a wide variety of social, educational and recreational opportunities to Christel House students, their families and their communities. Christel’s hope is that this innovative approach to collaboration and service delivery can become a model for similar initiatives serving impoverished communities elsewhere in Africa and around the world.

The groundbreaking ceremony itself was held at the site in a white marquee and the event started when the runners who left the school about 30 minutes previously arrived proudly carrying their school banners, and after a few speeches from Christel and the Mayor they sat down to officially sign the lease agreement, followed by the breaking of ground outside the marquee. Construction was then due to begin almost immediately with an estimated completion date of January 2009 – when we’ll return to see what has become of the once empty piece of land.

So we’ve seen a school where the children are smart, presentable, well educated, talented and are provided with good facilities and now they are getting a new, bigger school – at first glance you’d almost be forgiven for thinking that everything is as it should be.

THE CHILDREN OUT OF SCHOOL
So far we had been very impressed, the school, its facilities, its sheer size had all exceeded our perceived expectations, the children were wonderful, but they weren’t orphans like we had originally and incorrectly thought, however the word impoverished had kept cropping up, so it was time for the special guests to see what that meant. A convoy of Christel House branded minibuses were waiting to take us to see several areas where the children live.

As I said earlier, we had seen some of the slums and shack based settlements in our previous days in South Africa, but this had been from the comfort of a private car, from a distance whilst passing at high speed on the motorway. The Christel House minibuses drove at about 5mph through what I can only describe initially as a very uneasy place to be – somewhere you would not ever want to drive through by yourself. There were roads through these areas sure, but no houses, just wooden or corrugated iron shacks in rows and the streets were scattered with groups of youths who at first we though may even attack the buses. It was explained that there are other areas where some of the children live that this could have happened, but we were only taken to the areas where the Christel House logo on the buses is welcomed because of the work they are doing to help the communities.

To begin with though the feeling in the minibus we were in still didn’t change much and there was an eerie silence apart from the voice of the guide. It was now that I started to think of the lovely children we had just left back at school, well dressed, talented and ambitious and understand that when their school day finished this was where they returned to until the next day, and it was hard to believe that they lived amongst those that lined the streets to wave at the minibuses as they passed.

Street after street the story was the same or worse and then the minibus stopped and to our horror we were told that we were getting out of the vehicle and taking a look at where one of the brightest students of the school lives. Everyone glanced around at each other and then very slowly rose to their feet to leave the comfort of the minibus, but once outside we were greeted by the student’s mother and despite the surroundings you felt her warmth and felt safer. This stop was an important lesson to us all and in a semi-macabre way, we were all taking photos of this lady’s shack, but I’m glad we all did as it is the main image I remember from my trip and would guess for the same reason it would be the other guests too.

This shack is about the size of a typical garden shed, complete with a door and window without glass. Inside 90% of the floor space is taken up with the only bed which is shared by three. There is no electricity, no facilities, just a small amount of worldly possessions neatly kept in the small space at the end of the bed – yet just the night before it had been broken into! The shack was part of an alley way where a few other shacks of similar proportions we located, with communal toilet facilities and outdoor cooking area.

Yet on the walls of this shack were paintings and drawings made by the lady’s son whose ambition is to become an engineer and excels in technical drawing, as seen in the photo where he has designed his future house for himself, sister and mother to live in. The visit was both tragic and uplifting at the same time. This family lives in extreme poverty, yet both children are fortunate enough to attend school at Christel House and are well on their way to achieving well paying jobs which will help them move their whole family
into a real house that without being educated so well would simply be impossible.

This was a great example, but you knew that this was basically the same story throughout the 519 students at the school and whilst we were very impressed at the difference the school was making to these children, we were very saddened by the conditions they had to live in outside of school hours and more so for the many more that Christel House is so far unable to help whose futures are very uncertain.

During the day we found out that the school hours were very long, 8am to 5pm and the reason for this is to incorporate any homework time required as without electricity at home, therefore no lighting to see their books, many are unable to continue their studies in the evenings. We also learned that the children are fed three times a day at school and learned that some are often unable to be fed properly and in some cases at all at home if there is no money. The school provides the uniforms, vaccinations and regular health
checks, home visits are made to check on family support of the education as well as running classes for adults in parenting skills, contraception and the effects of drug and alcohol abuse. All this and more is reflected in the percentage of students who enroll returning year after year – the percentage that enrolled last year that returned for this year was 99%.

BACK TO SCHOOL
After such an eye-opening tour of the areas where the children live our spirits were lifted once again as we returned to the second school building where the younger classes are based. After a light lunch in the reception hall we witnessed playtime in the school yard where all the special guests were swamped with children hugging, kissing and asking them questions – we were no exception, and they all wanted their photo taken and to see it on the screen at the back of the digital camera, then they all wanted to take the photos of their friends themselves, so we obliged and had great fun with them for about half an hour.

After playtime, we were split into small groups and were taken on a tour of the classrooms where the children were now hard at work. As we entered each classroom the students were given the opportunity to ask any of the guest’s questions and they were desperate to collect our autographs, whether it be on paper or the back of their hand, arm or cheek. It was getting harder to leave each classroom as we went around and Peter Hutchinson, Sharon and I were soon detached from our small group as we spent longer
and longer in each room with the children.

The love shown towards the visiting guests was astonishing, but so too was their natural love for their teachers, who they all want to hold hands with and cuddle at break times – something we would never see in a British School and I imagine most schools worldwide. It is a genuine sign that they all take their learning very seriously and are extremely appreciative and proud of the opportunity they have been given.

This ended our tour of the school and it was very sad to leave the children behind but to think that the next time we’ll see them they will all be in their new school was a high point to leave on.

CELEBRATION DINNER
That evening we attended a celebration dinner at Monterey House, venue provided by Pam Golding Properties. During the event Christel House was presented with two cheques from attending guests:

• Sven Theil presented a cheque of 213,850 rand (approximately $31,000 US) – the funds raised by the recent London2Paris ride.
• Stuart Lamont & Tony Ridl of Club Leisure Group presented a cheque for 600,000 rand (approximately $88,000 US) collected from their members.

At this point I find it important to mention how Club Leisure Group raised this money. They sent out a mail shot to all their members asking them if they would be in agreement to adding 5 rand (about 75 cents) to their maintenance fees as a contribution to Christel House. Almost unanimously their members obliged and Club Leisure Group matched all funds raised which then totaled 600,000 rand, with expectations of exceeding 1,000,000 rand from 2008 fees, providing a long term way of supporting Christel House.

This is something that many timeshare companies worldwide could easily replicate and I hope many will feel compelled to follow Club Leisure Group’s lead in 2008.

ROBBEN ISLAND
The following day as an addition to the main event, Christel and some of the guests took a group of the school children to nearby Robben Island.

For nearly 400 years, Robben Island, 12 kilometres from Cape Town, was a place of banishment, exile, isolation and imprisonment. It was here that rulers sent those they regarded as political troublemakers, social outcasts and the unwanted of society, including Nelson Mandela.

During the apartheid years Robben Island became internationally known for its institutional brutality. The duty of those who ran the Island and its prison was to isolate opponents of apartheid and to crush their morale. Some freedom fighters spent more than a quarter of a century in prison for their beliefs.

Those imprisoned on the Island succeeded on a psychological and political level in turning a prison ‘hell-hole’ into a symbol of freedom and personal liberation. Robben Island came to symbolize, not only for South Africa and the African continent, but also for the entire world, the triumph of the human spirit over enormous hardship and adversity.

The short ferry ride was pleasant and as we drew near to the island you could see hundreds of the 132 bird species that inhabit the island including the African Penguin.

We spent a few hours on the island, part guided tour and part wandering around the grounds. When inside the prison with a large tour group a good number of questions to the guide came from children of Christel House showing their keen interest in their country’s history.

Christel as ever spent time with each and everyone of the children throughout the tour of the island and the ferry rides, as did the guests.

This concluded our visit of Christel House South Africa, and we hope this article has helped to give a deeper understanding of what a life altering organization Christel House is (and this is just one of five schools around the world with others in India, Mexico, Venezuela and USA) and perhaps has motivated some companies and individuals out there to take action and help the charity help even more children to break the cycle of poverty that they currently endure.

There are a number of companies currently running fundraising programs for Christel House, such as RedWeek.com that you could get involved with in a small way to help them achieve their goal of raising $50,000 which they will then match, or you could come up with a new and innovative way to raise funds from within your own organization like Club Leisure Group have done – either way we now know first hand that the children of Christel House will both appreciate and benefit from all that you can do.

If for any reason you need a little more convincing though, see just ten more reasons below that highlight how current donations are benefiting the inspirational children of Christel House.

• Two Christel House students were chosen to represent South Africa in the International Junior Fencing Championships

• Twenty-four Grade 10 students entered the Engineering Drawings Exam with Cape College; 21 passed the exam, and 5 received marks of distinction.

• Sixty CHSA children participated at the Opening of the Provincial Legislature in February. The full Choir, Marimba Band and Orchestra played for the Premier and his guests.

• Five students and one teacher were been selected to participate this summer in North Carolina State University’s Mathematics and Science Seminar.

• Christel House South Africa learners are participating in the Fairest Cape Environmental Awareness program and competition. Students have adopted an area of beachfront for clean up and ongoing maintenance. They will keep a record of their work and compile a presentation to enter into the competition.

• As part of their Service Learning project, Grade 10 students recently visited the Christene Ravell Home for abandoned, orphaned and HIV/AIDS children. The older boys interacted with little 3 and 5 year olds, read to them, helped them work puzzles and generally showed love and care to the young children.

• To catalyze their thinking about careers, 10th grade students participated in “Take a Student to Work Day,” visiting several local companies where they shadowed professionals that included a Member of Parliament, auditors, accountants, attorneys, engineers and nurses.

• A team of CHSA students placed 7th out of 23 schools in the Argus General Knowledge Quiz. Questions are on based on current events as reported in local newspapers. Since there is no access to newspapers in their home environments, all reading had to be done at Christel House.

• Forty Christel House students recently participated in a Cape Town Marathon, completing 5 to 7 kilometers. They are in training to one day run their own full marathon. The best time achieved by the students for a 7-kilometer run was 24.37 minutes.

• Nontando Bonga is a 15 year-old 10th grader, recently selected to receive a scholarship to attend the Culver Academies Summer Camp in Culver, Indiana. She lives with her parents and two older brothers in a two-room wooden shack with an outside, communal toilet and shared cooking facilities but her dream is to study at the University of Cape Town and become a medical doctor.

To end, a few more words from two of the guest visitors:

What a fantastically motivating and emotional experience! In industry terms, the most succinct analysis might be to say: “To see so many leaders of this often tough and ruthless industry, close to tears said more than a thousand words!

Having now visited Christel House in both Bangalore and Cape Town, I hope eventually to visit them all! Whilst, the two schools are very different, they both convey the same warm feeling of hope out of adversity! If anything better than Christel House ever comes from the industry, it will be an auspicious day indeed!”
Peter Hutchinson

From around the world we’d travelled
To be part of a memorable day
To join with children and teachers
For music, singing and play

On stage came a veritable concert
Plus a chance to honour the best
Of a school founded on service
That had passed every possible test

Then we all looked to the future
At plans to hear about and see
And visited the new location
Where Christel House 2 will soon be.

We’ll never forget the excitement,
The love, the passion, the care
And as the school builds for the future
We’ll remember with pride we were there.
Colin Collins

Owners Perspective Magazine readers now have the opportuity to help us support this incredible charity by adding just £1 to their print subscription order – collectively this small amount can make a big difference to the lives of many impoverished children – a little help really does goes a very long way. We will be keeping you up to date on the progress of Christel House South Africa and the other schools around the world.

For more information on all five Christel House Schools and details of how to donate visit christelhouse.org or call Becky Arnett at 317-464-2009 or at Barnett@christelhouse.org

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