This is our story
We are a public charity based in Scarborough, Cape Town, South Africa that creates opportunities for children from disadvantaged communities. Our organisation acts as community hub for children of Red Hill. We run after school and holiday programs for youth.
Join us in giving young disadvantaged South Africans a chance to grow in a safe and loving environment.
The GLO House was founded in 2018 to help the children of the Capricorn, Cape Town. Due to the lack of proper foster and children’s homes in South Africa, there is a real need for a safe place for disadvantaged children.
When we first began, we couldn’t imagine the amount of growth that our staff and children would undergo. Over the course of a year we established an education advancement centre and our surf school. Our doors have opened to volunteers and interns, and we employ a number of adults from the local communities.
Glo (ha-loo-uh) is Afrikaans for believe.
We believe that every child deserves a safe and loving environment so that they can grow into the person they were meant to be. The GLO House has shifted to better meet the needs of the local communities. We have closed our residential care facility and have focused on our community outreach programs. We understand the need for a safe place for children and educational resources for parents.
Our long-term goal is to keep families together and foster relationships with family members, schools and therapists for the benefit of each child. We want to equip children and parent with resources that allow for family strengthening.
Of the 55.7 million people that call South African home, 55.5% live below the upper poverty line. This means that 30.8 million people bring home an income of less than R1,138 ($91 USD) a month. Families cannot afford groceries, school supplies, shelter, or transportation.
Many South Africans are caught in a cycle of poverty that began with the segregation laws introduced through Apartheid. People of colour were relocated to areas where there was little infrastructure and were denied access to opportunities to certain opportunities because of their race.
As a result, many families live in informal settlements known as townships. These are often be inundated with drugs and violence and overwrought with physical and sexual abuse. Children who grow up in townships are exposed on a daily basis and can become dependent on drugs or coerced into joining gangs.
Generations of South Africans have been unable to break out of their dangerous communities due to lack of education, repetitive violence, and the expectation of failure. The children’s parents and grandparents were bound to township living because of poor schooling and a lack of job opportunities because of racial bias and segregation.
66.8% of South African children ages 0-17 live in poverty. Based on their experience, many don’t believe that they will be able to attend college, find meaningful employment, or even live in homes with running water.
As citizens of the world who have been given many opportunities that these communities have not, we feel it is our responsibility to provide opportunities for these children.
The GLO House has big plans for its future! We obtained a beautiful piece of farmland in Scarborough, Cape Town in 2021. Having this land has allowed us to create a larger impact on the surrounding communities. We are incorporating several therapeutic methods such as sports, gardening and other outdoor activities to our program. We are on our way to becoming semi- self sustainable. We teach the children about how to use what you have and turn it into something beautiful.
We believe these therapeutic methods has a significant effect on the mental state and wellbeing of the children, many of whom come from cramped informal settlements without running water, electricity, sanitation or a garden to play in. Our future aspirations are to expand our organization throughout more informal settlements and provide all disadvantaged children with the happiness they deserve. In our long-term future, we would like to expand our organization throughout South Africa and create a network of support to help disadvantaged children.