About Us

SEEDS Trust is an independent non-profit organization established in 2005 by Johann and Marlena van der Walt to oversee and govern the fast growing Little Lambs Christian Daycare in Imizamo Yethu and to assist other organisations in their efforts to provide underprivileged children with quality education.

Our Story

In 1998 Johann and Marlena became aware of the desperate needs of the majority of the farm worker’s families in Hout Bay for an income and so started a Daycare by default! The demand grew rapidly and in 2005 there were 100 children and a waiting list! Johann negotiated a lease for 30 years with the then YMCA, for premises on their grounds and paid the leasing costs for 30 years in advance. In 2005 Marlis Schaper started fundraising for the Little Lambs. She became a long lasting supporter and friend.

The decision to establish SEEDS Trust was taken to oversee and govern the fast growing Little Lambs Daycare and possibly assist other organisations in their efforts to respond to the growing demand for pre-primary education and early child care in Imizamo Yethu. The Trust was successfully registered in 2005.

Soon the mandate of the Trust was extended to include education and empowerment initiatives in the broader Hout Bay and Imizamo Yethu area in general. Apart from educational loans and scholarships for underprivileged people from the area, the Trust’s primary initiative is the Little Lambs Christian Daycare project that offers basic care, nutrition and preschool education for children from Imizamo Yethu.

Sadly Johan passed away in 2007 but his memory lives on in the values of SEEDS Trust and in our hearts!

Presently SEEDS Trust supports Little Lambs and partners with 4 other organisations.

Our Vision

Education brings hope for the future. Gives self-worth and dignity. All people should have a right to these.

Through its various projects SEEDS Trust strives to make this possible to as many people as possible in an atmosphere of love and Godly values.

Schooling Education Empowerment Development Support

SEEDS as an organization of volunteers that presides over finances which have been made available for the purpose of supporting Schooling, Education, Empowerment and Development amongst the underprivileged people South Africa and partners with other independent NPO’s to achieve this goal.

Schools

We build, develop, maintain and support places where children and people can be prepared for a successful future in the modern world in a loving, caring and supportive environment.

Education

The process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, values, and skills from one generation to another through institutions. We believe Education is a Basic Human Right and a fundamental key to promising people a better future and redressing the wrongs of our countries past. SEEDS endeavors to create, maintain or support programmes or institutions that offer solid education to the impoverished people of our country, starting in Hout Bay.

Empowerment

Marginalized people who have no opportunities for self-sufficiency become, at a minimum, dependent on charity or welfare. They lose their self-confidence because they cannot be fully self-supporting. The opportunities denied them also deprive them of the pride of accomplishment, which others, who have those opportunities, can develop for themselves. This in turn can lead to psychological, social and even mental health problems.

Development

A set of values and practices that are aimed towards overcoming poverty and disadvantage, knitting society together at the grass roots and deepening democracy. Development is about influencing power structures to remove the barriers that prevent people from participating in the issues that affect their lives, thereby expanding the real and concrete freedoms that individuals enjoy. It expresses values of fairness, equality, accountability, opportunity, choice, participation, mutuality, reciprocity and continuous learning. Educating, enabling and empowering are at the core of such development.

Support

Fundraising is require to support all of our other activities. Fundraising is the process of soliciting and gathering money or other gifts in kind, by requesting donations from individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. We raise funds by clearly communicating our vision, purpose & needs We gratefully accept whatever support we can get, but not at the cost of our other values. We treat donors with gratitude, dignity and respect. We listen to them sincerely and carefully consider their views and concerns.

Oversight Leaders

Marlena van der Walt

Founder and Trustee

Charl van der Walt

Chairman, Trustee

Elke Zwicker

Trustee

Pastor Grant Baston

Trustee

Roger Falls

General Manager

Costa Mitchell

Acting Chairman

Marlis Schaper

Major fundraiser for Kinderhilfe-Kapstadt/SEEDS Trust