Planning Early Childhood Development
Girl Impact
Social Impact
Sports Development After-School Club
AVG TEMP:
25 ˚C
LANGUAGE LESSON: Xhosa: ‘Elunxwemeni’ means BEACH – remember in Xhosa the ‘x’ is a click!
WHAT’S NEW ON THE GROUND? • •
The volunteer house got some new street art with a local artist bringing his talents to our wall. Check out our Facebook page for the latest photos! We said goodbye to one of our local partners for The Girl Impact, but started working with a new partner just next door. This way we’re staying in touch with the community and continuing our impact.
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After working together for 3 years, it was time to say goodbye to our partner, Buyelekhaya, as the teenagers had aged out of our program. We had a huge party and celebrated all that had been achieved. Thank you to all who donated to or who volunteered with us at Buyelekhaya in the past.
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We welcomed a new partner, Masibonisane, in November – a women-led initiative that we work with to provide health advice, income generation skills and English lessons.
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Our whole team embraced the 16 Days of Activism for Elimination of Violence Against Women campaign, celebrating women’s and girl’s empowerment by teaching children how to keep themselves and their bodies safe from harm.
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During October, our Foundation successfully hosted the second GAPA trip (an after-school program we support) for the year. We took the grannies and children to Robben Island – a location very special to them and a huge achievement for us as an organization. The day involved a boat ride to the island and a chance to see dolphins and seals, a tour of the prison in which Nelson Mandela was incarcerated, a visit to the penguin colony and some fun games at the Waterfront.
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Our volunteers supported our partner long-term foster care organization in hosting their annual Family Fun Day – a chance for all the foster care children and their parents to come together and celebrate the year.
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School readiness assessments at our partner preschool showed the children in Grade R recognized 22 out of 26 letters of the alphabet, 80% of kids now recognise all 7 colors they are assessed on and 100% recognize at least 3 shapes!
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Red Hill community was overrun with men recently when our lads had their weekly home-stay. Our Foundation intern joined two male volunteers and a male staff member and spread the love across a number of families. The children of Red Hill love to see strong male role models so had a great time with so many to choose from!
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SANTA CAME TO RED HILL! Volunteer Dori donned the red suit for a day to celebrate with the children. A week of Christmas programing had the children ready to meet the main man.
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Our assessments show 80% of children could identify 5 numbers between 1-10 out of sequence and 72% could identify 3 basic shapes.
“I had an incredible experience with African Impact on the Social Impact Experience. I loved this whole experience including all the children and families and the homestays are definitely a highlight. I'm so lucky to have been involved with this project and would love to come back some day!” – Courtney, Social Impact Experience
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Our annual 7-week long Street Sports Tournament was hosted from October – November. Children, coaches and community members from 3 communities took part competing in soccer, cricket, and for the first time, netball. The volunteers jumped right in helping to coach, umpire, score or cheer teams on. Congratulations to the community of Langa for winning the cricket and soccer and to Khayelitsha for winning the netball.
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We also worked with schools on their Sports Day at the beach, a fun day on a sports field and a beach cricket day. The end of year is a great time to burn off energy once exams are done!
The Rugby 7’s returned to Cape Town at the end of 2018 and our staff, interns and volunteers made the most of it. Rotating through 10 major international destinations, the Rugby 7’s are known for their dress-up party atmosphere so we went as the Village People. Hosted in the famous Cape Town Stadium this is a weekend of sport, sun and fun!
“I was lucky enough to experience the final of the annual street sports competition, which was just incredible as three townships competed in football, cricket and netball. The experience was so rewarding, and it felt amazing to know I was having such a big impact on these children's lives and assisting the coaches with their busy schedules.
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Until next time…
Courtney, Sports, United Kingdom