Our Story ...
In 2005 four Headteachers and one school health visitor attended a conference in Cape Town, South Africa. The title of the conference was "UBUNTU", which means that you can only really be a true person by working together with others. The visit was to be a life-changing experience.
Whilst in the conference, one of the Headteachers, Elaine Maloney, tried to get the name of a local school in order to deliver some gifts from her own school, Whiston Willis Community Primary School situated in Knowsley, Merseyside. These were very simple gifts consisting of pencils, skipping ropes and friendship bracelets.
One of the ladies serving at a jewellery stall in the local Imizamo Yethu (Mandela Park) township provided the name of friend who, at the time, was working against all odds to run a small creche in the township.This friend came straightaway to meet Elaine Maloney and the journey together began ...
Elaine immediately went to see the tiny creche run by this lady in the township. The thirty children, all HIV-positive, were crammed into a tiny wood and iron shack with no running water, no cooking facilities and certainly nowhere for the children to play. The children slept on the bare earthen floor and one of the children had even had her toes gnawed on by rats.
Friendships were formed, and since 2005 Elaine has been to the township many times. The help that she has received from the schools in Knowsley and St Helens and the people of Merseyside has been, quite simply, unique. People in parts of Merseyside are supposed to be living in a "deprived area" of the UK, yet they are the most generous and kind-hearted people that anyone could wish to meet. Through fundraising and sponsorship the children of the original Noluthando creche were moved to two beautiful new classrooms, 'The Angel Room' and 'The Starfish Room' that were set up in the garage of a nearby home.
During the conference, the Headteachers met Archbishop Desmond Tutu. His final words at the conference gave the project its name when he told a story about starfish. An old African gentleman was walking along the shore, painstakingly throwing back into the sea some of the starfish that were washed up onto the shore. A young African boy saw what the old man was doing and mocked him, telling him that he was wasting his time because there were hundreds of them and that it was too big a job. The old man took a step back from his work and replied, "But it matters very much to the one that you throw back in".
The name "The Starfish Project" stayed with the project until it came time to register as a fully-fledged charity. The name had unfortunately already been taken and so the children of Whiston Willis Community Primary School came up with the final name, "The Angel Starfish Project".
Over the years, the Angel Starfish Project crèche has gone from strength to strength. It has now become a fully-fledged institution, known as The Angel Starfish Educare Centre, that employs 5 teachers and 2 additional support-staff members. Allanson Street Primary School in St Helens, Merseyside, England have been particularly strong partners throughout this journey. Staff, children and governors from the school have been to visit the Educare Centre to see for themselves the impact of their support.
The Angel Starfish Educare Centre is now under the guidance and control of a local Management Committee comprising staff, parents, members of the local community and Elaine Maloney representing the Angel Starfish Project Charity.
The Educare Centre is now operating from its own premises that were built within the Sijonga-Phambili Community Learning Centre complex. It is registered with the Western Cape Education Department and the Department of Social Development and caters for over 140 children.
Donate to The Angel Starfish Project
Donations are used to provide much-needed support and resources to the Educare in order to support the health, well-being and education of its children.
