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Seeds of Light News November 2017
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Letter from the Director
Seeds of Light has seen some big changes in the last 6 months!
In July 2017 we said goodbye to Nick Vorono, who has been one of our most active volunteers since he joined Seeds of Light in 2010. With his boundless energy and passion to uplift disadvantaged communities coupled with his previous work experience with Hlokomela, another NPO based in Hoedspruit for the US Peace Corps, Nick has been a treasure for Seeds of Light.
Nick was instrumental in the building of The Ekurhuleni Orphan Centre and was much loved there by children and adults alike. He captured many beautiful moments with his photos of smiling children, Art classes, Permaculture workshops and his amazing cooking - creating a visual memoir of all the valuable work undertaken by Seeds of Light.
He also mentored Terrance Mabaso, a talented young artist who is now successfully running the Art classes with the help of another talented youngster, VanRooy Sondlane. Seeds of Light's administrator, Penelope Colly, having some Art background, is coordinating the program. Seeds of Light thanks the team for continuing Nick's legacy in Acornhoek.
We share below a photos from Nick's farewell, which included a popular "One Hat One Heart" hand out. It was a very emotional occasion, as Nick said goodbye to the people whose lives he had personally touched, and from whom he himself had learned so much about African rural communities.
We would like to thank Nick for his many years of service to our community and wish him all the very best in Ghana, where he has gone to work again as a Peace Corps volunteer. Nick will be developing permaculture and using his chef training to help ensure better food security for impoverished communities in the West African country. We will miss him in Acornhoek and hope to see him again soon!
We are excited to share some of Seeds of Light's achievements over the last few, very busy months. Thank you to all of you who have contributed towards our work in Acornhoek. We would not be able to do this without you. Please enjoy the photos and consider contributing to the program that catches your heart. You can follow this link to our website to donate.
Best wishes to you over the festive season from all of us at Seeds of Light.
Love and
gratitude
Wendy Fraser
Director, Seeds of Light
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Butterfly Art Project Workshop for Artists and teachers
The main objective of the workshop was to help artists and teachers inspire creativity in children. The workshop unpacked how to develop creativity in children of all ages, and how to conduct school readiness and emotional assessments.
The Seeds of Light team and partners were delighted to attend this workshop. Having learned how to facilitate creative discussions and expose learners to Art in an engaging way, our artists and teachers are now better equipped to use Art as a medium for self-expression and identify Art as a possible career path for talented children.
Thank you to The National Art Council for funding this important project.
Would you like to donate art supplies or money for future field trips? Please
click here.
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Seeds of Light promotes reading for children of all ages
A 2016 study by the Central Connecticut State University revealed that South Africa is ranked as one of the most illiterate countries in the world. The university's report didn't analyse a country's ability to read, but rather the 'literate behaviour' of the populace in 61 countries, including South Africa, which was ranked 56
th
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Seeds of Light is passionate about promoting literacy in South Africa and, with the help of reading teacher Laura Matter, we've started a reading group for children from 8-13 years. What a hit with the children! They are loving the books! We've managed to start a small library at Seeds of Light's New Dawn Art Center
and have been lucky to get some books donated for children of all ages.
We do need more books, however. The children in this poorly resourced area
rarely have access to books, with most of the schools having very poor libraries.
Laura has taught some community members and teachers to conduct their own reading groups so, with more books being donated, we are sure that the love of reading will spread.
Laura has also been working with Seeds of Light's high school girls to help those who are struggling to find books at the right reading and interest level. When asked at the beginning of the year, 'Who reads for fun?', only 3 of the then 21 girls answered in the affirmative. Now all the girls are keen to swap books every week and are finding books that they can enjoy.
A big Thank You to all who have donated books towards the library.
Would you like to sponsor book shelves or books for our library? Please
click here.
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Seeds of Light's Saturday Girls enjoy a weekend at the Echo Caves
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The group at the entrance to the caves
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A weekend away from home is a special treat that most of our children rarely experience. The girls really enjoyed the 2-night weekend away in the mountains at a retreat center and mission station.
The weekend allowed us to go in-depth into some of the self-esteem building and leadership training that we are working on in our Saturday classes.
We were lucky to have Anneline Coetzer, a psychologist, spend Saturday morning working on emotional development with the girls.
The highlight of the weekend was a visit to the spectacular Echo Caves, where the girls learnt about the history of the area.
Thank you to Peregrine Capital for funding our Saturday girls program and to Ohrigstad Mission Station for the very generous offer of accommodation, and Anneline Coetzer for making this weekend possible.
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Seeds of Light's School art groups are working on illustrations for a children's book
Seeds of Light's Art class has been chosen to illustrate a children's book set in the Limpopo area of South Africa. The teachers had as much fun reading and acting out the story as the children had drawing the pictures.
The illustrations have been created in the form of a collage so each one of the children will have contributed their special illustrations that will be featured in the book.
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A factory drawn by one of the Primary School children for the book illustrations
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build the collages.recap o
story and then
that weeks section that had been
We will be sure to let you know when the book comes out.
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Our High School Artists continue to win at Provincial School Competitions
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Walter, Terrance and Vanrooy (Seeds of Light's art teachers) with the 2 winners and the Provincial head of Art, Department of Education, at the award ceremony.
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The high school Art students have again excelled at the Mpumalanga Province Department of Education Art Competition. Over 35 schools competed, and the Shobianya High School learners came away with both the first and the third prize in the Visual Arts category. Ten learners were chosen to attend the event as they all obtained a gold certificate for their submissions.
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Clement Mabaso with his first prize.
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Well done to all the Shobianya High School Art learners for the creative work!
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Seeds of Light's Saturday Girls Group excels at Hoedspruit Music Eisteddfod
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Dorcus and Tshegofatso Obtained a gold for their duet
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Part of Seeds of Light's mission for the Saturday classes is to give the students opportunities that they would not normally have. One such opportunity was to compete in the recent Hoedspruit Music Eisteddfod.
The girls' choir was thrilled to obtain the Best Group Performance of the event (a result of 86%). This is the first time that any of the girls has performed in such an event. Two of the girls received 87% for a duet and four girls performed in the Solo competition, obtaining marks of 75%, 78%, 81% and 89%.
A massive thank you to Laura and Mark for your help in getting the girls ready for their performances.
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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 TO DONATE.. 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.
Phone: 076 488 2745 Email:
solloveinaction@gmail.com
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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