Crazy Hat Life - wear your Crazy Hat - 10 October World Mental health Day

We are based in Pretoria, South Africa and provide a safe play and learn environment for young children with developmental, behavioural or emotional disorders. Often these children struggle in mainstream pre-schools as they are unable to participate fully in age-appropriate activities and have learning difficulty and disabilities such as Dyslexia.  Volunteers from all over the world, sign up from February to November assist with care giving and atttempt to improve social competence and behaviour, bringing their own style and areas of interests and introducing new activities, always interesting, and although the kids sometimes finds it challenging, it provides opportuiny for growth and a wider experience. The kids mix -and become friends with their non-disabled peers and experience meaningful, non-judgemental friendship with the children who are taught to have respect for disabilities. The inclusion of children with normal development is beneficial to all children and fosters acceptance and belonging, understaning and compassion. 

Young World Educare is a speciality creshe but can not accomodate severly handicapped children, as we lack the staff capacity to care for them, but are able to daily care for children with hearing and visual impairment, ADD/ADHD (Attention Deficit Disorders), Autism, Mood disorders and Tourette’s Syndrome and will do everything we can to develop our ‘otherwise abled’ children, to their full potential.

The care centre is 20 years in excistance and is not Government funded. We make plans to accomodate the children of low-income parents by subsidising the fee’s they pay - which is very affordable to begin with, offering parents an opportunity to work whilst their children is cared for. The biggest challenge we currently face is a lack of outside play equipment and play space - we are also renting the building and are now searching for exactly the right home to buy for our special kids.