Ikhaya Trust Center

The Greater Stellenbosch Development Trust  (GSDT) was established in 2002 by concerned individuals who wanted to help to bridge the economic and cultural divide between communities in Stellenbosch. An old beer hall that was previously destroyed in a fire in Khayamandi was bought and renovated. It became the iKhaya Trust Center, from which the Trust operates.

The Trust is a leading resource center and development cooperation organization in Stellenbosch.  It runs development programs to nurture children and youth, to assist and strengthen other community organizations, and to strengthen civil society. It also builds capacity through long-term programs to enable people to change their own lives.  The planning, monitoring and evaluation of results in these programs are also aimed to find ways that can be replicated elsewhere to assist the development of the country.

I joined Mpumi at Ikhaya for their annual Cape Classic workshop. This year a German string quartet came to visit, and played the second movement of Josef Haydn’s “Kaiserquartett” (quartet of the emperor), which became the German National Anthem. During this workshop, the children were taught the melody so that they will recognize it and possibly be able to sing the German National anthem one day.