Goal50 Early Childhood Development Centre!

Introduction

Goal50 is an inspirational education focused community project, based in Heideveld, Cape Town, led my community changemaker – Mario Van Niekerk (Director of Great Commission United) https://www.gcu.org.za.

The Story Behind Goal50

Mario had a dream to open a Montessori style Early Childhood Development Centre that would double as an after school space for primary and high-school learners. Why? In communities like Heideveld, ECD facilities are few an far between, often leading to the under development of a child’s cognitive abilities. On the other end, not having access to after school programs often leads to youth spending time in the wrong types of environments after school. Goal50 addresses these threats by introducing a high-quality Montessori style Early Childhood Development Centre, as well as an After School Program that creates a safe and supportive environment for youth, keeping them off of the streets, and fostering their development through reading, & IT programs.

Sustainable Building Modality

Mario & his team at Great Commission United partnered with Uthando South Africa, & The Natural Building Collective in September 2024, to start constructing phase 1 of the facility. This was no ordinary undertaking. Phase 1 was built entirely out of waste materials, including tyres, plastic bottles, film-set waste bricks, glass bottles, and other waste materials. #wastetowonder #loveforpeople&planet. Rest assured that this building modality passed all health and safety regulations, and in our opinion is a superior structure to conventional buildings that is better at regulating changes in temperature, is far more rigid, and reduces waste in the environment. Each tyre is rammed with 200kgs of building rubble making the building an immovable object.

Skills & Employment

During construction of phase 1, ex-gangsters from the local community in Heideveld were trained & employed to build the phase from start to end. Many of these men have gone on to secure full-time employment around Cape Town due to the skills that they learned during Phase 1 of this project.

Phase 2 & 3 (loading…)

Phase 1 was completed in October 2025. We now require R8 million to complete phase 2 and 3 of the Facility.

We Need Your Help

Help us raise R8 million in order to complete this inspirational facility that will bring hope, joy, opportunity, education, safety & food-security to 300-500 youth each year in Heideveld!

#communitydevelopment

#bethechangeyouwishtoseeintheworld

#loveforpeople

#loveforplanet

Nominated For The Earthshot Prize!

Introduction

The Earthshot Prize is a global environmental prize of £1 million that is awarded to five innovative solutions each year, for their work in protecting & restoring our planet!

The Criteria.

5 Earthshot categories have been developed in collaboration with leading environmental experts to repair our planet before irreversible damage occurs. Uthando has been nominated for “Build a Waste-Free World”!

Learn More About The Earthshot Prize

Visit: https://earthshotprize.org/ to learn more about this profoundly impactful award!