Stepping Stones for Africa

A series of portraits of children of the Crags Primary School in the township Kurland, South-Africa:

Kurland, 20 kilometers east of the often visited by tourists, rich Plettenberg Bay. Kurland, anonymous, forgotten and without a future.

Kurland is one of the countless townships (slums) in South-Africa. Poverty and violence are common. People live in shacks made of wood, plastic and cardboard. Life is cheap in Kurland.

The kids of Kurland try to find their way out, and are looking for hope, love and happiness. Their cry for attention is heard by almost nobody.
They grow up in broken families, amidst of violence, alcoholism, unemployment and sadly, abuse. Despite their mostly hopeless situation, they keep smiling and dreaming, and are all unique children with an own story to tell.

These photos were made in the summer of 2004 in the Crags Primary school, the school in the Kurland township, by Remco Kalf.

You can support the kids of Kurland

You can support the kids of Kurland with a donation or by means of financial adoption.

Through the Stepping Stones for Africa foundation, you can give a donationthat will be spent totally on projects for the kids of Kurland.

An example of what is made possible through donations, is a school trip - something totally normal for our own children, but for the children in Kurland a lifetime event which takes them out of the daily situation for a while. Donations will be spent in cooperation with the Belgian/South African organisation ‘Born in Africa’, which is active in Kurland and a number of other townships around Plettenberg Bay.

We welcome any amount!

Financial adoption is possible directly through Born in Africa. Born in Africa supports individual children in de various townships around Plettenberg Bay, with afterschool activities, individual coaching and counselling as well as with clothing and shoes. Also school trips and outings are organised to give the children a break from their situation.

You can sponsor a child through Born in Africa for 250 euros per year. You become the ‘godfather’ or godmother’ and you will be informed regularly of the situation of your child with letters and photos.

More information can be found on www.borninafrica.org. Also see our article about Born in Africa.

You can download a pdf of this article here (with text in Dutch).