Posted by christine, October 24, 2008
Sara (on left, one of our partners in Uganda) and MC Events Coordinator Marisa Van Houten (center) with other team members from Midtown Fellowship at Village of Hope
On a recent visit to the Village of Hope in Gulu, Uganda, one of the MC trip teams learned about a game called “netball.” This photo was taken right before the team played a game of netball with the Child Mothers who live at Village of Hope!
Netball is similar to basketball and is a popular game at Village of Hope to help build community among those living there. Sports can be the universal language!
Posted by christine,
Remember the new Job Creation project we shared recently, The Emmanuel Vocational-Technical School? This is a unique school in the Kibera slums of Nairobi, Kenya which will provide job training to many youth in the area. 180 new high school students that may not be in school now will receive vocational training and have their hopes realized.
The construction of the new Emmanuel Pre-School to replace the one that was burned last year has already been completed…
Posted by christine, October 23, 2008
The following is an update from Living Hope Community Centre near Cape Town, South Africa, which is a facility Mocha Club helps support for those infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS.
Children who scream and run around in class and totally ignore the teacher during a lesson create a discipline problem faced by so many school teachers. However, activity
of any kind – whether it is soccer, netball or even racing around a field draws the attention
of any child.
Living Hope Life Skills Educators face some of the same problems. Nathan Panti, team
leader of the Life Skills Educators at the Ocean View location has used his initiative to combat this
common trend of ill-discipline. Knowing that children love sports, he introduced a Mini-Olympics event! Nathan wanted to get the children’s attention and also reward them for
their good behaviour by allowing them to participate in this event. This effort proved to
be a huge success! Children who misbehaved couldn’t take part in these activities. This
made it easier for teachers and educators to teach hassle-free. Children encouraged each
other to behave in class because they so badly wanted to be involved.
Not only did it combat the problem, it also complemented the Department of
Education’s expectations as to what should take place in schools, i.e. physical, personal,
emotional and health education. The start of this tournament was led by one of the major
companies in South Africa, Engen, who graciously supported the event and provided
sponsorship in a number of ways. Marine Primary and Living Hope co-hosted the first 2008 Mini-Olympics at the Multi Purpose centre in Ocean View and it is hoped
that this will be an annual event in the future.
Posted by christine,
ORPHANAGE
We continue to receive testimonies from some of the Grace Orphans you are helping in Sunyani, Ghana!
“Because of the food you give to me I am always filled up and am able to learn when I come to school. My school uniform makes me very happy and I look nice. I am grateful.” -Evans K. Osei, 8 years old
“Now I have school uniform and food to eat am very happy. You have made me happy I thank you SO MUCH.” -Sandra Nyarko, 7 years old
“My stomach is always full. And I have books to study oh I am happy. I want to tell you that God will give you more money. Thank you.” -Philip Obiri, 8 years old
Here are some photos of school uniforms being distributed recently:
Posted by christine,
Lots of updates from our partners, Learn To Earn in South Africa…
From the Hermanus branch…
Give thanks for:
- Eleven new students who have registered for the Home Management course.
- The construction on the new Hermanus branch training facilities is going very well.
Needs:
- Continued protection for the building crew at the site
- Funding to enable us to complete the new building
- Sibulele is a graduate of the Home Management course. She and her six siblings lost their mom recently.
- Mpumi has health problems.
- Amamkele has health problems.
- Bulelwa is trying to get her business up and running.
From the Business Resource Centre…
Needs:
- Timely completion of all contracts in Zakhele
- All potential contracts that are in the pipeline still
- All vacancies to be successfully filled.
- The success of the Khayelitsha Festival (23-26 October) that we are taking part in.
- All enterprise development initiatives that we are involved in.
Give thanks for:
- Several large orders through Zakhele which will keep many unemployed people economically active. This is especially useful as the December holidays loom.
- Vanessa’s baby boy is developing very well in her tummy.
From the Learn To Earn Head Office…
Needs:
- Fundraising efforts for the balance of the funds for the Hermanus building construction and for the additional space at our Khayelitsha facility.
- Our 20 year celebrations planning.
- Our funding proposals that are being considered or worked on.
Give thanks for:
- Successful applications for funding.
- The growth and interest in our Association activities.
- The faithfulness of staff, board members and volunteers in serving the organization.
- The impact and change we have seen in the lives of our students and graduates.
- The ongoing safety of all connected with the organization.
From the Khayelitsha branch…
Give thanks for:
- Our first production training pilot course run for graduates of the sewing course as a stepping stone into the Business Resource Centre.
- Our woodworking network partners who have been able to take all our students on work placement for 2 weeks once again.
Needs:
- Graphic Design students waiting to hear about applications to tertiary institutions.
- Employment opportunities for graduates as this has been quiet recently.
- Help for students who have dropped out because of family illness, AIDS-related illnesses and one student who was in a car accident.
