Gcu

We're a youth-focused NGO based in Cape Town, South Africa. Our mission is to support and empower local youth through education; sports, kitchens and community development. Heideveld is an area on the Cape flats, part of greater Cape Town. The Heideveld community faces a number of difficult issues particularly affecting the youth. Broken homes; unemployment; poverty; drugs; and gangsterism are rife and the youth urgently need avenues that provide them with alternatives and hope. The standard of education at Heideveld schools is very poor and, other than those offered by GCU, there are no meaningful extra mural activities for the children to participate in after school or on weekends. GCU was founded in 2001 by Mario van Niekerk, a person all too familiar with the challenges that face the youth of the gang-ridden Cape Flats in Cape Town. Mario is a former gang member who grew up in Heideveld and still lives there to this day. Our vision is is to see a society comprised of stable and healthy families, where children are guided and encouraged to achieve their dreams.