As part of the Muizenberg project, children are given a home environment that offers physical, emotional and spiritual care, as well as educational assistance, sport and recreational activities. The residential care component of the programme focuses on:

• physical, emotional and spiritual care
  
  At intake, the boys are assessed in these life areas. The appropriate medical assistance is given, while time is made for their emotional and spiritual care. This continues throughout their stay.
• educational re-integration into their communities
  
  Due to a loss of schooling while on the street, they are given remedial tuition where required and place them in an appropriate school in the community;
• homework supervision
  
  All the boys spend a minimum of 30 minutes daily under the supervision of staff;
• discipleship
  
  Personal spiritual development and relating to God is supported through formal and informal inputs;
• creativity activities/skills development
  
  The boys are enrolled at sport clubs, participate in creative activities, computer classes, play games and go on educational and recreational outings;
• counselling
  
  The boys are given individual counselling sessions and taught skills in dealing with problems and conflict.

The Muizenberg project also uses interpersonal communication strategies in an effort to eventually reintegrate the children into their communities. "For children to be reintegrated into their families, the family needs to be prepared. We need to understand what causes the instability in the first place and see how the community developer can alleviate that through practical needs, i.e. finding a parent a job, or sending a violent father on an anger management course." The community outreach component of the programme focuses on:

• creating family and community awareness concerning the street kids
  
  Communities, through schools and churches, are informed about the plight of street children while families are assisted with acquiring parenting skills;
• integrating care by linking developmental and social agencies
  
  Resources are identified in the communities the boys come from in order to assist their families to accommodate them meaningfully;
• facilitating voluntary work between community and international volunteers
  
  
  Local and overseas volunteers with specific skills or inputs are encouraged to assist in all areas of our work;
• promoting and assisting the guest family and foster-care programmes
  
  Families are identified and trained to take boys out over weekends, during holidays and, if possible, into foster care;
• Families are identified and trained to take boys out over weekends, during holidays and, if possible, into foster care;
  
  Finances are raised for bursaries for boys with specific talents to further their education;
• creating jobs for the disadvantaged communities
  
  We strive to involve and train local people as staff, as the boys relate better to them culturally.

The street outreach component of the Muizenberg programme focuses on:

• medical, social and emotional care
  
  When the boys come to the project, many have cuts and wounds. They are taken to hospital for treatment and, if traumatised, receive counselling;
• challenging children to take part in the residential programme
  
  Because of the severity of street life, the project continually challenges children on the streets to consider going home, to family, to its residential facility, or other facilities;
• social and life skills empowerment
  
  The project assists the boys to acquire skills and apply for jobs;
• a weekly feeding scheme
  
  Every Tuesday evening, it takes soup and bread to the streets of Cape Town. The purpose is to build relationships with the boys.

Drawing on communication strategies similar to those described above - but with a specific focus on HIV/AIDS - the Lower Crossroads care centre serves 42 children (residential) and more than 250 children through the medium of after-school programmes. Children who are in need of medical care and a place of safety receive residential care; a nursery school programme aims to ensure that the children are being motivated and stimulated holistically. The children are prepared for foster care placements or family reunification where possible. If needed, hospice care provides a place to die in dignity for terminally ill children. The community care component of Lower Crossroads provides medical help, HIV/AIDS education, spiritual care, food, and psychosocial support through after school care programmes and a sports programme. Training is provided at the care centre in the form of an annual 3-month-long HIV/AIDS school as well as a 6-month-long Discipleship Training School.

Children, Boys, HIV/AIDS.

The Ministries' mission is to establish and support care centres for children in need through fundraising, public relations, training and staff development.