Miqlat Community Centre (H.O.P.E)

The centre is based in a 3,000 square meter building located in the centre of Paarl East in an underprivileged area. It currently is the home of the Dream Team. It also offers an entertainment hall, kitchen, etc for the community where a variety of weekly programs are conducted.

Weekly church services and bible studies are offered to the community. We offer a weekly soup kitchen to the poor in co-operation with a local congregation. The children of the community are being occupied during school holidays where several activities are being run by the Dream Team at the centre. Various training and job creation activities have been implemented but not on a sustainable basis.

Inter – sectoral co-operation between Correctional Services, SANCA, SAP, and Social Services are developed through several combined initiatives at the centre.

We would like to make the Centre a focal point of all community upliftment projects and activities for the surrounding schools, churches and other social and sport related community organizations. In reaching that goal we intend to involve as many different community organizations and local businesses as possible. Some of the activities contemplated are:

• Internet café and computer centre;
• Counseling facility to be available to various organizations;
• After care facility for school children;
• Sport facilities and gymnasium for young and old in the community;
• Rehab centre for homeless children;
• Training facility to teach life skills as well as commercially orientated skills;
• Workshops on domestic violence, drug use, etc;
• Dance studio;
• Facilities for phisio, occupational and other therapies.

Of these we have selected the following three projects to start with, although physical planning must allow for the future accommodation of some or all of the other projects.

• Internet café and computer centre;
• After care facility for school children;
• and Sport facilities and gymnasium for young and old in the community (including table tennis, playball, gymnastics, dancing and chess).

We realize that in the build up to the projects we need to ensure that:

• We listen to God’s guidance;
• The community and its leaders buy into the process;
• We focus on the youth;
• and We focus on sport.