History of the Crèche

(Left to right) Principal Booysen, Sheila Galant (Sponsor), & Ronell Trout (Sponsor)

The crèche within MGV is one of the most lively and high spirited facilities in the community. A crèche is a place of youth care and instruction, and the one in MGV, ‘Village Tods’, has a special history. The community saw a need for a crèche, and banded together to create one. Now, there is a safe place where the children can go to learn and play completely out of harm’s way. The principal has a motto at the crèche, “Youth are youth.” All children are welcome, regardless of religion, disabilities, or any designation normally dividing groups of people.

The crèche is still serving the community with the help of many people. In the early years, the Rotary Club helped with funding. After the Rotary Club moved on, the community fundraised and sought donors to keep the crèche supplied. The donors are both within and outside the community, and range from golf clubs to food distributers. The teachers and principals also help by bringing food from home if the supplies run low. A child is never to go hungry, in food or mind, at the crèche; it is the strength of many holding up the crèche. When one person needs to rest, others step up. This approach has kept the crèche strong for many years.

Invaluable to the stability of the crèche is the current principal, Carol Booysen. Carol is a dynamic and outgoing woman who brings joy into the lives of everyone she meets. Having overcome adversity, Carol has a very motivated and proactive outlook on life. She inspires people to be aggressive in accomplishing their goals and not to let anything, especially their ‘situation’, get in their way. She encourages personal growth in the children and even in the parents by professing to them that, “To be in your child’s future, you have to be in their life today.”

Not only did she welcome our group into the crèche and allow us to use the available space for our group work and meetings, but she also welcomed us into her life and told us many of her life hardships and successes. She enables the children to explore their talents and proves to be a vital asset in the community.