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Winter is upon us here in South Africa and it appears to be a bit colder than usual for this time of the year and most welcome after the stifling hot summer! Although we have had a little rain, the expected relief from the drought has not materialized.
Our gardening champions continue to offer community support for home gardens and some of the schools. A most exciting development is that TryGive Nxumalo is now assisting one of Seeds of Light's partners, Mahlathini, to train
communities further afield to use permaculture techniques in their homestead gardens. Being able to see someone grow into an asset to so many people is a privilege and it has been due to your support over the years that this was achievable.
Our 5 weekly art classes have continued with enthusiasm and mainly due to funding from the National Art Council of South Africa, we were also able to hold an educational art workshop for a large group of high school art students.
The Saturday Education Support has grown to a 20-member group and is funded by a grant from Peregrine Capital. The girls who have continued attending from the pilot program last year have shown a marked improvement in their school academic achievements and we are extremely proud of them. Empowerment classes are making a huge difference to these young women as they learn more about personal development and a right-brain approach to schooling and Life-skills.
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Please continue to support Seeds of Light through donations. Without your donations, we cannot continue to support the communities in need.
I hope that you enjoy the updates on the progress that our projects have shown since the beginning of this year.
We can't do this without your help. Please support us by making
a donation today
.
Your donation will help us continue to make a difference in the lives of the community that we serve!
With love and gratitude,
Wendy Fraser,
Director, Seeds of Light
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Katlego Creche Kids have fun learning colours and shapes!
The children at many of the preschools do not have access to Early Childhood Development programs. The caregivers at the preschools often do not yet have training in this arena. Seeds of Light has recently introduced it's first preschool Art Class.
These children aged from 4-6 years are taught about colours, shapes, numbers, how to hold a pencil, and creative exploration through having fun with paint and art.
This is a very important start to the children being open to future education!
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Our Saturday Education Support for High School Girls has increased its numbers to 20.
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| Our new group of Saturday girls! |
After the success of last year's pilot group of girls, Seeds of Light has decided to expand the Saturday education support to accommodate 20 high school girls. The first stage for the pupils is to cement foundation level mathematics. Due to the poor mathematics education in many of the schools, most of the girls are missing some basic mathematics concepts. Our goal for this year is to secure a solid mathematics foundation for all the girls. We have also supplemented their education with English comprehension, vocabulary and language skills, and poetry, life skills including leadership training, study methods and much more. Various visitors have shared their experience and expertise with the group, and this has augmented the lessons. Thanks to numerous very generous donations, we have a substantial library of books of various genres and levels for the girls to take home to read.
We look forward to see these girls grow in confidence and ability over the
next few years.
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Art builds self-esteem and development
Classes on Self-Esteem and Creative Expression have been offered to the participants in The Seeds of Light Girls Education Support Group. The group meets on Saturday mornings for support with Life skills, Mathematics, and English.
To provide these gifted girls with a better chance to be successful in their future careers and lives, it essential that they are given the tools to access their full potential. Art and Creativity provide a vital link in accessing their ability to creatively problem solve, think out of the box, and handle stress.
It also shows these girls that no matter what, there is something they can do for themselves to elevate their situation and self-esteem.
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News from The Ekurhuleni Center for Orphans
and Vulnerable Children
How wonderful to see the smiles on the faces of the children at The Ekurhuleni Center for Orphans and Vulnerable children when they received these beautiful soft toy lions from the
Humane Society International: Africa
and colourful scarfs from the Australian based Simunye Project.
Thank you Audrey Delsink as
Director of Humane Society International: Africa
for the very generous donation of 200 small stuffed toy lions and for the inspirational messages for the children.
A fun day was had by all!
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The Scout group based at The Ekurhuleni Center for Orphans and Vulnerable children has resuscitated the permaculture garden at the Centre.
To both earn new badges and learn an essential Life-skill in a fun way, the Scout group assisted the Cubs and a successful harvest was achieved shared and consumed.
The garden continues to be maintained by the children and the community service portion of the program now includes growing and sharing seedlings with neighbours as well as helping in the community with gardens.
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Art Workshop at iNyoka Gallery
Shobiyana High School art students enjoyed an inspirational
day at the iNyoka gallery and Snake Park.
40 Shobiyana learners participated in a workshop held at the Reptile Park and iNyoka art gallery. Here the learners were shown various animals around the park and educated as to their behaviors and habits. Drawings from life were created in pencils and pastels. After lunch, a well-known local artist, Millie Muller, gave a drawing workshop on how to evoke movement in an animal drawing through knowledge of anatomy and observation of movement.
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Art for AIDS International holds teachers workshop!
Canadian Artist Hendrikus Bervoets, facilitated a 2-day workshop for teachers hosted at Shobiyana High School. Mr Bervoets has run learner workshops with several schools in the Acornhoek area. This particular workshop focused on the teachers and has made a very positive impact. The teachers that attended can now run similar workshops in their own school communities.
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Seeds of Light and partners train communities for Climate Change R
esilience
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An afternoon visit to Try's Home, Community, and School Gardens with Erna Kruger of Mahlathni Develpment Foundation and Chris Stimie of Rural Intergrated Engineering.
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Sedawe End October 2016
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Despite continued concerns with regards to low and no rainfall and extremely limited access to water, this remarkable change was affected by the application of permaculture techniques combined with the villagers existing traditional skills.
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| Community Homestead Gardeners Sedawe |
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GET INVOLVED
Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
~Nelson Mandela~
If you are inspired to fund raise for our work, please let us know and we will help you. We have videos, brochures, stories, everything you need to make it a success. Contact Wendy at:
info@seedsoflight.org.
If you'd like to donate today, please click here.
In the USA and South Africa, your donations are fully tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Contact Details:
For South A
frica, contact Wendy: Mail: P.O.Box 282, Hoedspr
uit, 1380.
For USA, contact Dhari: Mail: Seeds of Light, 223 N. Guadalupe #275,
Santa Fe,
New Mexico 87501
Phone: (505) 424-8844
| Toll free in USA/Canada: (888) 989-3552
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