When Clifford was a child, he was supported by a charity that helps farm children flourish. Now in high school, he’s ruling the roost in his academics, claiming top achievements in his grade and academic awards!
Cape Town, South Africa (27 February 2025) — There are few things quite as rewarding as seeing how far someone has come in their journey. Especially when you played a role in helping them get onto the right track. For the Pebbles Project, this sense of pride came about recently by way of Clifford Lelieveldt—a young man soaring in his academics who was once a small child supported by their Early Childhood Development Centre.
Based in Stellenbosch, the Pebbles Project has spent the past two decades providing support across a spectrum of areas for children and families in farming communities.
Their focus includes education, health, nutrition and social protection, as well as ECD Centres and After-School clubs—all of which help bridge important gaps that stand between children and future opportunities.
“It was just the other day that Clifford was running around the ECD centre as a little toddler and now he is a young man achieving great things in high school,” the Pebbles Project beamed.
Clifford has gone on not only to come in at second overall in Scottsdene High School’s Grade 9 academically, but he also won the Eugene Isaacs Award and the Laurence Graff OBE Academic Award (2024). Clifford was also the top achiever in EMS (Economic and Management Science) and Creative Arts.
“We are so proud of you Clifford! It is also nice to see that you still have a great love for sunglasses,” the charity added.
We can’t help but wonder whether, in a few years, there might just be a serious sunglasses brand run by Clifford!
Clifford’s achievements are a testament to why accessible ECD centres are imperative to South Africa’s future in education.
And why support for organisations like the Pebbles Project go much further than we might ever imagine.
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