This project is exploring ways to work with Manno's Door of Hope Soup Kitchen in Vryburg, South Africa, to continue the legacy of the Children's Care Center to uplift the people of Vryburg through education. 

Background

Vryburg is in a rural area of the northern Cape in South Africa, 400 km (240 miles) from Johannesburg. In 1975 the Reverend Harold Brooks and his wife started to take into their home children of poorly educated farmworkers from the farms in the Vryburg area, who were receiving no formal education. In 1980 they built a proper Children's Home. This allowed the children to receive an education that would have otherwise eluded them. At its peak the project accommodated 200 children, and it counts among its graduates numerous professionals (teachers, doctors, lawyers and accountants) and countless others who were able to develop their God-given talents because of the work of all of the people involved with the project.

Following the advent of democracy in 1994, the South African Department of Education, recognizing that education is a state responsibility, began building hostels, which accommodated many of these children. As a result, the Care Center had fewer and fewer children. By 2018, there were only 19 children and five full-time workers at the Care Center. Due to the service becoming outdated and the facility being financially unsustainable, the building became dilapidated and the Children's Care Center officially closed down at the end of 2018. 

In 2019, the Care Center was repurposed. In October 2019, the South African Department of Health, in urgent need of a temporary space after their Colridge clinic was condemned, rented half of the building, where it set up a clinic. This clinic is expected to move out soon, as a new site has been prepared. The rest of the Care Center building was repurposed as a conference and meeting venue, where it offers sleeping accommodation for 100 people, a big hall, a mini hall, and a kitchen. It is used by various groups, including churches for conferences, the aged for regular meetings, and the community for a gym. It is still called the Children's Care Center and operates as a registered non-profit organization that still falls under the Methodist Church. 

Why Manno's Soup Kitchen?

In November 2025, Project Coordinator Stuart Diesel visited Vryburg to learn more about the history of the Care Center and to explore ways continue its legacy.  He quickly discovered Manno's Door of Hope Soup Kitchen. 

Manno's feeds around 2,500 people twice a week. While Manno's is a soup kitchen, its services extend beyond just food. They also distribute food and medicine to the sick and the elderly. Manno's has an association with the Department of Health, which provides primary healthcare through the soup kitchen. And it also serves as a point of contact for volunteers who cannot find work, giving them an opportunity to be positively involved in the community.

Manno is a chef and caterer by trade. He clearly runs a "tight ship". Manno started the soup kitchen largely with his own resources. While he has some financial backers, including local grocery stores and farmers that provide food for the soup kitchen, he maintains the operations mostly with his own resources, doing catering on the side to bring in a little money to help keep the soup kitchen going.

The day after he met Manno in November 2025, Stuart met with Reverend Pierre, who was the resident Methodist minister in 2018 when the Care Center was closed and repurposed to its current uses. Their discussion, which is transcribed here, informed much of the content of this page. 

As a result of all of this, we launched our partnership with Manno's in December 2025. Stay tuned for where this leads.....

Project Coordinator