SOUTH AFRICAN WINES & CULTURE

The Pebbles Project is initially working in three main communities: the wine growing region around Stellenbosch, and the township of Lwandle, which is located approximately 20km outside Stellenbosch, and the township of Kayamandi in Stellenbosch.

Recent research by medical doctors, community researchers and the founder of Pebbles has identified:

• Many children living in the wine-growing region of the Western Cape of South Africa show some degree of special educational needs.

• These special needs may be as a result of Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), other mental disability or learning difficulty, neglect, lack of stimulation or simply poverty.

• Historically, wine farm workers were paid a proportion of their wages in wine (the 'dop' system), which has resulted in a culture of alcohol mis-use and the associated community problems.

• South Africa has the highest numbers of children born with Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) in the world.

• For every child with FAS, it is estimated that 3 others have Foetal Alcohol Effects (FAE), where the child does not display the distinctive facial features of a FAS child, but still can suffer from learning difficulties and behavioural problems. Please see the page on Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder for more information.

• An informal study of wine farm crèches and primary schools has shown that approximately 25% of children have some kind of learning difficulty; some of these will be as a result of alcohol.

• There is currently little available training and support for crèche workers or teachers in these communities.

• Every crèche worker and teacher interviewed requested additional training in dealing with special educational needs.

• Many of the children in the identified crèches sit on the concrete floor of a shack, with no toys, no books and no learning materials.

• Primary school classes can have as many as 60 children per class to one teacher, many of whom have no experience of pre-school learning.

• Many families live in desperate poverty and cannot afford to send their child to a crèche or pre-school facility, let alone buy uniforms, shoes or books.

• Some children begin primary school at the age of 6 unable to hold a pencil or sit in a classroom because of a lack of pre-school experience.

Without the support offered by The Pebbles Project most of these children will not succeed in Primary School nor reach their full potential.

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