Joey Plaatjies knows what a difficult childhood means and what the consequences might be. Ever since his arrival on Kleinood he has been involved and concerned about the welfare of the children of the Blaauwklippen valley. He spent a lot of time and energy exploring the different avenues in which he and the farm could be actively involved in improving the lives of these children and giving them reasons and the tools to survive their often troubled lives.

On Friday 17 February 2012 Jan van Riebeeck, Weber Gedenk, Kleinood and the ATKV celebrated the small realisation of a big dream at Kleinood Farm. Prizes were given, speeches were made and a good time was had by all. Although the project is still very young and by no means near completion, we are proud [...]

During the four years that we have been living on Kleinood we have been involved in some really exciting projects with the community around us. First sports day Weber Gedenk Primary School Handevat Go-carts Arts and culture centre Gardening boomplantdag special needs class recycling The Kleinood Arts and Culture Centre at Weber Gedenk Primary School [...]

The partnership between Kleinood farm Jan Van Riebeeck High school and Weber gedenk Primary evolved in a very natural way around some interesting coincidences and events. Kleinood’s connection with both schools is in the first instance because of children. The De Villiers children started and completed their school careers at Jan van Riebeeck primary- and high schools. Weber Gedenk, on the other hand, is where all the children of the people of Kleinood farm receive their primary education.

In ysige koue met ‘n nare Noord-Wester en gepaardgaande reën, het die kaskar resies by Weber Gedenk Laerskool uiteindelik gebeur. Met die weervoorspelling Vrydag het ons dit oorweeg om die dag uit te stel, maar die kinders was te opgewonde en daar is besluit dat ‘n bietjie koue en water niemand gaan skade doen nie. [...]

In February 2010 Kleinood spoke to the headmasters of the two Jamestown schools where most of these children go. The Weber Gedenk Primary School was very excited about our ideas and happy for us to get involved in any way we could. Joey immediately started by making a vegetable garden at the school.

Joey is also aware of how important sport is to the healthy development of a child. In the process of trying to find a way to get some such program started he came up with the idea of hosting a day that would involve the parents and children of the valley in a day of fun and sport.