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Our Early Childhood Development Programme provides free, quality education to children living in impoverished communities in Athlone, Cape Town. For them life is characterised by hunger and malnutrition, insecurity, trauma, family breakdown, dislocation of communities, and a lack of primary health care and education.
In meeting the needs of these children, we implement the principles of Integral Yoga in our efforts to nurture the child as a whole, be it physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual. We support the notion that education with conscious observation allows for each child’s underlying talents and interests to unfold naturally. Supportive engagement with parents and community is as important to us as is creating an environment within the Educare that is gentle, loving and safe, where children can grow, learn, play and explore.
The core pillars that form the foundation of the Educare are based on the principles of Yoga: Serve, Love, Focus, Learn, Be Good, Do Good. Similarly the Four Pillars of Education as enunciated by UNESCO are: Learning to Do, Learning to Live Together, Learning to Know, Learning to Be. An education based on yoga fulfils all of these. Yoga means union or integration and this happens on two levels; within the person and between the person and society. Yoga is universal and adaptable in its principles and therefore can be practiced by anyone. Our curriculum gives these children the chance to live a meaningful life and the capacity to contribute to society in a positive way
Children of Light Educare is a registered non-profit organisation that relies on donations for all of its funding. Know that your donation will help us to serve these children in need.
The Educare
The Children of Light Educare (COLT) opened its doors on the 17th October 2017 and has successfully established an Early Childhood Development Programme that offers free, quality education to children living in impoverished communities in Athlone, Cape Town.
Vision
Integral Education that nurtures the innate divinity and potential of children.
Mission
To provide education that focuses on the physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual development of children by establishing independent early childhood development centres based on the principles of Integral Yoga
The educare supports the notion that to ‘educate’ means to ‘bring out’. The philosophy of the educare is to create a nurturing and loving space for children to grow, learn and explore through play thus enabling them to be happy. Once they feel truly happy, their actions in daily life will be refined and flow from that space of happiness. Hence the school’s Motto is ‘Be Good Do Good’.
The core pillars that form the foundation of COLT are:
Serve: Being mindful that all they learn is to serve society
Love: Loving all beings equally,
Focus: To have an aim in life, and
Learn: To learn about themselves, the world and God.
Similarly the Four Pillars of Education as enunciated by UNESCO are: Learning to Do, Learning to Live Together, Learning to Know, Learning to Be. An education based on yoga fulfils these four pillars. Yoga means union or integration and this happens on two levels; within the person and between the person and society. Yoga is universal and adaptable in its principles and therefore can be practiced by anyone. The COLT curriculum gives these children the chance to live a meaningful life and the capacity to contribute to society in a positive way
COLT is a registered non-profit organisation that relies on donations for all of its funding. A team of committed volunteers, together with three paid members of staff run the educare.
Background
Background
The lifestyle of children today is extremely demanding and unbalanced as a result of a demanding academic curriculum, compulsory participation in extra-mural activities, extra-tuition, compulsory sporting activities, social life, poverty, unstable households and neglect.
This has led to children being over stressed, overworked, becoming involved in substance abuse, developing destructive peer relationships and drifting further away from their peaceful divine innate nature.
Statistics and the media clearly show the destructiveness this lifestyle has had on children today. There is an increase in drug and alcohol abuse, bullying at school, theft, teenage suicide, emotional instability, increase in fear as a result of demanding academic and sporting activities.
The strategic focus of the government is prevention and rehabilitation through educating learners at school and establishing rehabilitation centres for behaviour modification. This however does not address the individual as a whole being, physical, emotional, spiritual and mental, as part of a family and community, and results in short term behaviour changes with lapses. Children are expected to excel and outperform one another in sport which results in competitive behaviour.
The approach of the Children of Light Educare is to develop the inner qualities, draw out latent potentialities and competencies of the child, thereby assisting them in self-realising their interest and true potential. This may also enhance self-development.
In today’s age of technology and social media, children have minimal exposure to being in nature and experiencing the peace, tranquility and freedom that nature and the environment has to offer.
Today’s society inspires violence, which is evident with toys, popular films, computer games and heroes which leads to a rise in crime and decline in values.
With financial and social demands placed on parents, family time is minimal. Children often do not grow up with positive role models and as a result cultivate self destructive behaviour. The basic elements of moral and good values, such as sharing, giving, love, respect and unity are lost.
It is against this background that the Children Of Light Educare Trust was formed.
The Children Of Light Educare Trust is an NPO, registered with the South African Department of Social Development (149-100 NPO). Click here to view the NPO Certificate.
