Children are our nation's treasure, we need to protect them and create a loving environment for them, afford them a good education and continually support them during their early childhood development.
The Guardians of the National Treasure (GNT) is a non-profit organisation that helps under-privileged children and families on a daily basis with food, education, clothing, sports and other activities in Lavender Hill, Cape Town, South Africa. The GNT works to champion culture and community spirit through voluntary and community action, working inclusively and non-violently with the community. Our activities help fight poverty and support families with food, school safety and health initiatives as well as sport, holiday and out-of-school programmes for children and young people in Lavender Hill. We provide free meals for those most in need. In the future we hope to build a safe house for the most vulnerable children.
The suburb of Lavender Hill is in the Cape Flats, an area of high unemployment to the south-east of the Central Business District of Cape Town. The area is also called ‘Gangland’ with high levels of poverty, violence, gun and gang related crime. Parents have problems collecting their children from schools in high risk areas and high school graduates cannot find jobs or further training. Gangs use children as young as 10 or 12 years old to deliver and sell drugs. We help to keep these kids busy with support and activities, especially sport.
The Guardians of the National Treasure operates under the umbrella of The Lavender Hill Sport and Recreation Project NPO 014-671, registered in 2001. We are also registered and partnered with CAFDA and Learning in Reach.