IDestiny

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For those who've not heard - the fantastic Angel Wings Hubs is operating from a 200-hectare farm in the Trompsburg district outside of Bloemfontein, where orphaned, fostered and underprivileged young people are being housed and trained for independent adult life. The organisation’s 2026 focus is its Independent Living Skills Development for Work Readiness Programme, which combines a safe home, practical trade training and structured life-skills development for young people who have aged out of care or are close to doing so.

Maria Aletta Muller explains that the aim here is rather simple, “..give orphaned, fostered and underprivileged youth real skills for real jobs.” At present, the hub is home to seven students living alongside house parents, with training centred on carpentry, steelwork, basic mechanical skills, livestock care, food gardening, household management, financial literacy and employment preparation.

This model grew out of a vision that Muller says she received in 2018, built around two groups she believed needed each other but were not meeting: older people with decades of practical knowledge, and young people entering adulthood without family support, skills or direction. “The elderly are the angels giving the youth wings,” she says. In practice, that means older mentors visit the farm, share meals with the students and pass on both trade knowledge and the kind of discipline, work ethic and emotional steadiness that cannot be taught through formal coursework alone.

Angel Wings also brings in qualified external facilitators for more structured training, but the intergenerational element remains central. Muller’s view is that the technical side matters, but so does the transfer of character, dignity and belonging.

Its programme is broken into seven core modules, covering identity and healing, daily living, relationships, money management, work readiness, career planning and independent living. Alongside that, students receive workplace exposure through what the organisation calls Breaking Barriers Excursions, intended to familiarise them with real working environments before they are expected to enter them alone.

One of the clearest examples of that approach is Crystal Pieterse, who arrived at Angel Wings in 2022 at the age of 18, according to the organisation, “with nowhere to go, stuck and abandoned in these cracks.” She returned to Angel Wings in October 2025 as administrator and programme coordinator. Her personal life also changed during that period: on 2 May 2026 she married, with what the organisation describes as the full support of the Angel Wings community around her!

The organisation’s longer-term ambition is to replicate this hub model across South Africa, but for now its needs remain practical and immediate. Student sponsorships currently stand at R10 500 per month per student, covering accommodation, training, mentorship and daily care. The farm also needs laptops, food and toiletry vouchers, warm clothing, tools, facilitators, branded materials, gym and recreation equipment, musical instruments and broader community support.

An Angel Wings Golf Game Day fundraiser is scheduled for the 3rd of July 2026 at Schoeman Park Golf Club, with proceeds intended to help sustain the home and expand training capacity. Get in touch with them today: [email protected] [email protected], call +27 82 822 3491, or visit www.angelwings.co.za
Reach the Founder, Marieta Muller, directly at 082 822 3491 or Crystal Viljoen: 082 560 1432