Christmas at Thanda

Hi everyone, I hope you have enjoyed hearing from one of Thanda’s founders, Angela Larkan, in the last few blogs. She asked me (Bonnie) to write the Christmas blog, so here it goes.

I can’t believe it’s already December and that in 2 weeks time it’ll be Christmas and New Year. This has been an amazing year for everyone at Thanda- so much has happened and we have loads of exciting things in the pipeline for 2012.

Since the end of November and the beginning of December, Thanda’s staff members have been taking their children on outings as an end of year treat. They arranged to take their children to the beach (approximately 30 minutes away) as many of them have never seen the ocean and some of them don’t get to experience the fun of being on the beach or swimming in the ocean for a day. The outings involved playing games on the beach, getting to swim in the ocean, and a nice meal. They all had loads of fun.

Then on the 8th December it was the Chirstmas party for grade R to grade 7 kids at Thanda. Unfortunately the sun decided not to make an appearance and it started to rain (cancelling the outdoor games and competitions), but we were extremely grateful to have the Thanda Library to use for the event. When I got there, Thanda staff were getting everything ready. Twin and Sandile got a lovely Christmas tree which they put up and decorated for the kids, while in the kitchen a very yummy hot meal was been cooked for the kids, so the whole library smelt of pine tree and yummy food. As the staff were busy getting everything sorted for the kids, Angela, Tyler, and Batman sat on the mat in the kiddies corner of the library and read the kids a story while some of the kids played with the cute teddy bears.

 

When the rain stopped, Simso went outside with the kids and they played a few games while some other children played on the jungle gym.

Under the Christmas tree Nosipho arranged the lovely stationary bags we received from Umhlanga College under the tree.  While she did this the kids were eagerly watching her, trying to figure out what was in the wrapped parcels.

The children were all very excited and eagerly awaiting what was going to happen- they kept looking to see if they could see their names on the presents under the tree.

 To start off the show, one of the basket ball players dressed in costume welcomed the kids and told them he hoped they had a good time.

the Thanda Christmas mermaid/fairy Simso

Next up was the Thanda Christmas mermaid/fairy Simso, who explained the meaning of Christmas to the kids and what the party was all about. He told them there were presents for them and that the yummy food they smelled was for them.

 The first performance was the grade R and grade 1 kids as they sang ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ and one more song.

Next up was the grade 2, 3 and 4 kids who sang 2 lovely songs

They were followed by the grade 5, 6 and 7 kids who sang 3 beautiful songs.

To finish it all off was a lovely show put on by Angela and the much-loved Batman. Angela and Batman showed the children  how he sat on command and how he jumped. The ‘stay’ didn’t go so well, but the kids loved it.

 Then Twin and Melusi handed out the lovely wrapped gifts to the kids. Each time a name was called the other children got all excited and clapped and cheered for that person.

Once all the lovely wrapped stationery bags were handed out, it was time for Father Christmas to make an appearance.

Simso got the children to cover their eyes and to be quite and when they opened their eyes there was Father Christmas! His helper was Twin. The faces of the children when they heard their name being called was so cute.  Once again as each child’s name was called out, the rest of the children clapped and cheered. Some of the children were trying to feel and guess what their presents were. The look on their faces made me realize just how lucky many of us are.

After the presents were handed out, it was time for food. The staff had made a nice chicken curry, rice, coldslaw, and mash butternut. The food was as yummy as it looked. I asked Angela if this was possibly the only meal some of the children would have for the day and she replied ‘yes’, it would be. This broke my heart as I watched the children make sure they cleaned their plate without leaving one piece of rice. There weren’t enough plates so the little children were fed first and as soon as they finished, their plates were washed and used by the older children.

As all the children left with their wrapped gifts, they received a Christmas cracker each.

Thank so much to everyone that helped to make this day such a memorable and special day for the children. Thanks go to Umhlanga parents and pupils, Waltons and Rand York Castings for the wonderful stationary packs filled with crayons, art supplies, and stationary. A big thank you also to all the people who donated the lovely toys at the “Durban Poison” party @ TRUTH nightclub on Saturday 17 September, as well as 5FM, EWC couriers & Coco Loco. Thank you also to Spar in Hibberdene for their support with food.

Wherever you may be and whatever you may be celebrating, we wish you a very happy holiday season from everyone here at Thanda.

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One of Thanda’s Most Inspiring Teachers

Hi everyone! It’s Angela, Thanda’s founder and director, here again. For this entry we’ve asked one of our most inspiring teachers and one of the community’s best role models, Melusi Cele, to write about his experience at Thanda. Melusi was himself a Thanda student in 2009 with Raah as his teacher. He then volunteered as an English assistant for a year before he became Thanda’s basketball coach. Basketball is one of Thanda’s six high school programs, giving support to 20 children every day. They receive a meal, basketball practice, and educational and emotional support. Here is Melusi’s story…

“Lots of people here think basketball is a sport for rich people only, but they are wrong! Basketball is for everyone who believes that one day he can make it, not only in basketball, but throughout life’s struggles. In my own experience I never played professional basketball before, but now I know the rules and how to bounce a ball just like a professional player would… but within your students there is a gap in their hearts that just teaching them basketball can’t fill. I want my students to love basketball from the heart so then we can face life’s challenges through it together.

Melusi

 One of my basketball students said, “To me basketball is where I get to forget about everything in my life, where I am taught about my mistakes. Basketball allows me to be proud and increases my self-esteem because of the position I play in my team. The day I played basketball was the day when my life changed, I’ve learnt how to respect others and have discipline. The kids have left bad things such as drugs and crime behind to join our team. Everyone in my community is crazy about basketball.”

Making friends through basketball

 One day one of my players said, ‘Coach I can’t stay focused on the books at school or when I’m trying to study’. Well I told him to come to the basketball court next Monday with his books. On Monday he came to the basketball court and I gathered all my players and I told them to sit in a semi-circle. I told them to grab their physical science book and then I told them to imagine that the book was a basketball ball and that someone was trying to take it away from you, ‘what would you do?’  They all said protect it and then score. I said, ‘what if you had to read the opponents defense first?’ They said read the ball and focus on it. Then they all started holding their books tight and reading them and focusing on what they were reading. I did that for an hour and a half and they all now understand how to protect your ball in the game and how to hold tightly to your book at the same time.

Warming up for a game

 I try to link their life and basketball together because just giving them fancy styles on basketball court, won’t make them the leaders of tomorrow. We are trying to win the hearts of those who are not motivated and who think the easy way is the right way. It is a strategy to help them not make the wrong decisions when they are alone and to find answers at school and throughout their future and life. Basketball to me means a tool to uplift my students, so they can see the right way and to show them that whether you are rich or poor, it doesn’t matter- you can make a difference.

Thanda Basketball Tournament

 

Another basketball student said, “Basketball means a supporter and lifeguard to me because of the help it has given to me and I’m proud of being a basketball player. It has changed my life because I can behave myself more than before and it also changed my lifestyle as I now know that being good is a good thing and it also makes me proud of myself. It has changed the situation that my community was in and it has also improved my community’s infrastructure that is why I now respect my community members”

Thanda Basketball players at a recent Tournament

 My next mission is to spread basketball in these rural areas because people think it’s only for people who live in the townships. Even though we may stay on dusty roads and have a rough court or play basketball barefoot, we know that our generation will make a change.”

“It means a lot to my future. It changed my future, now I’m a best achiever in all my subjects. It changed my community by giving me an opportunity to play and be part of a team.”- Thanda basketball student

Making food after a basketball game

 Melusi has been instrumental in helping us develop the high school curriculum, with engaging and inspiring lesson plans that change kids’ lives. He now volunteers on weekends, playing basketball with his team and he works hard to organize games against other teams. His kids are training a younger team at a neighboring school and four of his team members were recently selected to be on the Ugu district team, where they will have an opportunity to travel and receive specialized training. Melusi’s team also recently decided to help elderly members in the community on weekends. 

Melusi’s kids help out in the Thanda gardens

With the new Thanda library, the basketball kids have a new opportunity. They are some of the most frequent users of the library and when asked about the library, this is what Melusi said:

“The Thanda Library is like a home to me. It’s where my passion starts, it’s where I believe I can change the world and we can change the world. It is where my inner ideas come out; it is where the love of reading starts. Whenever I’m in the library I realize that there is something I need to do in the community out there in the dusty roads. The books I read give me warmth and strength that my generation will make a change through struggles facing us all and issues that make us lose hope. A library is a place of hope and inspiration. A library is a family, the books are your family members- they give you ideas, love, information, warmth, jokes, happiness and laughter at the end of the day you step out of the library you have the vision that you can make a change. It’s as if you now know the community has dignity and it represents the youth, those happy faces reading and laughing together inside the library. We now can stand for the community and say knowledge is what we have. If poverty fights us, we fight back with education we have. When we are all in the library we are lawyers, teachers, nurses of the community. The library is my whole life- it contains the community’s future.”

Basketball team members enjoy the library

 

Melusi having fun with Thanda kids

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Angela’s Latest Letter Home….

This is Angela, Thanda’s founder, again and this is my latest letter home… something that I have been working on for a while. Some of it was written on the beach, some of it written in the car, and I hope you enjoy it…

The town of Hibberdene where we live

“As we drive north, I am struck by the beauty around me. Everything seems to sparkle in the mid-morning heat, illuminated by the sunshine. There are some rolling hills, lush with sugarcane and palm trees, but still the landscape seems flat and wide and stretches infinitely in all directions, dropping off only into the sea, where another natural spectacular carries on in wonder. Seemingly simple, yet too complex for us to comprehend. Plain, yet full of life.

As I look to all sides and see the beauty of this bright land stretching for miles until it meets the clear, clear blue sky, uninterrupted in its full expanse above us, I realize what it is about Africa that touches us — perhaps just one of its secrets. It is the open plains, the open sky, the open valleys which ground us and give us a foundation on which to live. We feel rooted here because we are part of this land. We do not rise above it into sky-high buildings or climb below it into subway tunnels. We have not carved it; we are part of it, the way it is, and the sun beats down on us as we walk with the earth. We are like the acacias that grow from it, the animals that mark territories in it. We are rooted here. Life and death make sense here. Born from the earth, one goes back to the earth.

And it is within this landscape that we see the devastation of AIDS. Already, a fifth of children in the country are orphaned and they say it will soon be one in three. But what I see in the poor rural areas, where children or elderly grandmothers raise children, is a situation that is already drastic. What will become of this generation of children that grow up without accountability, nutrition, guidance, love, or aspirations? There are already 14 million orphans of AIDS across Africa. How can we let so many children grow up with the pain of feeling alone and the uncertainty that tomorrow will be any better, with the sorrow of having seen too much too young?

And that is how I end up on a visit overseas sitting cross-legged on my bed from childhood, typing as fast as I can. Tears stream down my face and I think ‘I’ve finally lost it. I can’t do this anymore.’ It’s just too hard to go from one extreme to the other and I think, ‘Does anybody notice? Does anybody really care?’ They say that 5 people die from AIDS each minute; each minute we think about the fact that we are out of Ziplocks, that we shouldn’t eat too much today, that the driver at that stoplight was such a jerk. The dichotomy is hard. And when Thanda continues to run out of funding every month, I am not sure what we are doing is worth it anymore.

Then I go out to the community where we are working and I watch. I sit back and what I see makes me bite my lip and cry. Twelve Thanda teachers, who just a few years ago were out of work, are now themselves designing programs that will change their students’ lives. Programs that will motivate, educate, and fill in the gaps left by too many missing parents. When I stand inside the library that we are building for the community. When our basketball coach, Melusi, posts on Facebook, ‘My generation will make a change…every time I bounce a ball I realize that basketball is not just a sport it’s a way to heal those lonely hearts without parents, to work as a team/family, to think outside of the box, to bring education closer to their hands and heart, basketball is a way [to] show how to come up with a solution in any life situation. Basketball is a lot more than a sport so let’s spread the love of basketball in rural areas”. Then I know we are making a difference.

I read recently that the UN says a third of the world’s food is wasted, that developed nations throw away as much uneaten food in a year as is produced in the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa. Yet the children of Sub-Saharan Africa bare the physical, permanent scars of malnutrition. As I wrote for a speech I made last year, ‘Yes, this is all foreign and very far away, but these are people. Yes, it’s all part of bigger past systems that created inequality, but we are all a part of these bigger systems that continue to play out inequalities even today. What right do we have to say that an imaginary line — a national border — determines whether children deserve basic human rights? This is not about politics, this is not about economics, this is about fundamental humanity.’”

Thank you for your support in this story as it continues.

 

Love,

Ang

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Thanda’s Story, Continued…

Hi, it’s Angela Larkan again, the founder of Thanda. This blog continues my letters home from our second year of running Thanda After-School. By then I was 25 years old, and things were getting tough.

In May 2009, I wrote…

“I was holding down the kettle lid today, desperate for a cup of coffee. It doesn’t boil unless you hold down the lid and as I stood there, hand on kettle, looking into the corner of the bare cement and noticing that we clearly have cockroaches in the office again, I thought about how my life might be different if I had just gotten a normal job. I wondered what Merrill Lynch might have for a coffee machine. I bet they have filter coffee. Maybe even a cappuccino machine. As I sat back down at my broken desk, in my plastic chair, drinking instant coffee, I looked at my computer screen and realized that it had frozen again. For the fifth time that day. Then I was told that the rats have been inside the copy machine again, and I thought about how Merrill Lynch probably has a filter coffee machine, working computers, and they probably don’t even have rats.

Then something will happen that makes the rats, my unbearably slow computer, and the endlessly appearing problems OK. And not just OK, because life is enriching here. I am living in Africa and just by being, I am influenced, confused, frustrated, and then humbled. Every day. Last year was exhausting: it was emotional and tumultuous as we threw ourselves into starting a program. This year, as our place here is becoming one rooted in people and experiences, we are thrown back to thinking about the basic, most fundamental elements in life. As Richard Dowden writes in Africa, ‘It is the prize that Africa offers the rest of the world: humility.’ HA! Is that what it’s called? Coming home at the end of every day, uncomfortable, edgy, and with all emotions running through your veins. Humility? Writing this on edge at lightning-speed on a tortoise-speed computer with a bag of cheese curls for dinner? I guess so, because it challenges everything you think, do and feel.”

Another year later, in May 2010, I wrote…

“Like all over South Africa, adults in this community are tired now. It has been 15 years since they were freed from apartheid and they are no longer second-class citizens in their own land. But they are worn out. There are still no jobs. They are still fighting for every day, for enough food to make it to tomorrow. It is exhausting.

One day, I look out from the small plot of land with two humble huts. Every hill is covered in a blanket of tall, prospering sugarcane. I ask around about life before the sugarcane plantations but no one can remember even hearing of such a time. ‘I have lived here since my sons were born. Before that we lived over there. My grandfather built the hut we lived in. He was an important man in this community, my grandfather. I have been sick for years now. Before, I could cut sugarcane and drive the trucks, but now I am sick.’  He hangs his head, slowly, like too many men I have seen. They all hang their heads slowly. It is the dismay that comes from not being able to support your own family. It is the embarrassment of relying on your 12-year-old child to bring in something to help you all survive. It is the sadness over your skinny, fragile frame, too weak to lift your infant baby and your bones so thin they look like they might snap. It is the dismay when you look at your children and realize you are dying, their mother is already dead, and there is no one to care for them. Then you look back up at me and I smile, holding back tears, mentally adding these children to the list of those we will need to support. ‘They will be OK’, I tell you, one adult to another.

I grit my teeth, like I always do. I think of what is left of this family, look out over the hills and multiply it by thousands, and then by every community in the country, and then I start to realize the damage that has been done. The damage from 50 years of being a second-class citizen, forced off your land, forced to move away from home to work in the mines and pay taxes, torn from your family for 11 months of the year. You need formal employment and cash to survive. And then I see generations repeating the same scenario over and over, families torn apart more and more with each year. And a desperate struggle to hold on to one’s tradition, to the hills and the huts and the comfort, so always traveling back to the rural areas to see a wife and children. Choices are made, love is found, and promises are broken. It is a human scenario — but one that in South Africa is leading to millions of deaths.

Still struggling to balance relationships you want and ones you are allowed to have — typical human existence — only it is the government that makes the law and decides what you are allowed to have. A government that believes you are not worth anything more than a body working 10,000 feet underground.

And so now you have AIDS. You are too sick to work anymore so you come home. Your wife is already dead. She said it was your fault. Your heart is like a tight ball of elastic, bound too tight to stretch anymore. Too tired of trying to hang on to a beautiful past during an ugly time, to please your ancestors, your wife, your children, and your love all at once. And so you hang your head. Too tired of being pulled in so many directions, while trying to survive. Your children need food, school supplies, uniforms, and clothes…

‘We should get back to the site, but it was wonderful meeting you. You should be very proud of your son. He says he wants to be a doctor some day. He will be a very kind and good doctor.’  A look of desperation. ‘He reads everything he can find — rubbish, pamphlets, books. He is addicted to reading, he soaks up knowledge. I can’t feed him, how will I pay for his university?’ I grit my teeth. ‘You have a lovely home. I hope to see you again soon.’

‘I wish the sugarcane could be cut down to make more room for new people,’ typed one student in the Thanda After-School computer program. ‘I wish my community would have better understanding about their right[s]’ wrote another. ‘I would like to see more jobs in my community. There are many people suffering from poverty because there are no more jobs. I also wish that our school could be more educational, because education is our key to success.’ How would you improve your community? ‘I would try to organize a group of youth and discuss how we can create jobs.’

Amid the tiredness, like sparkling glass in the sunlight, the children write about their hopes. They write about libraries they wish for in their community, houses that need to be fixed, clean water systems that need to be installed. I don’t know how these things will happen, but I do know that if nothing is done for these children, they will be tired very soon too.

We have lofty goals, I admit. It’s arrogant to think we can achieve them, I know. But we have made a commitment to these children and their dying parents, and we will continue. Because what we are doing is the start of something revolutionary in this community. Empowering and supporting people to help themselves. For girls to stand up for themselves. For kids to say ‘no’ to death by AIDS. For graduates to start their own enterprises. For this community to contain leaders, not dependents. For these children to have children that don’t grow up in poverty.”

So here we are today, in September 2011. We have a program that supports 325 children every day. We have an (almost-finished) building that will enable us to help thousands more children. We have momentum and energy that will keep us going for years to come, and we have the determination to impact millions more children around South Africa.

One in five South African children are already orphaned, and soon it could be one in three. South Africa needs a reasonable, sustainable solution to this crisis — and soon. Throughout all of Africa, there are 12 million orphans who could also use a support model like ours.

Recently, I wrote a quick note home…

“We spend so many of our days worrying that we’ll have enough funding to buy food for the children and to pay the staff. It is exhausting and it keeps us from the real work we are trying to do. We are trying to find a large foundation to fund Thanda, but in the meantime, it is the donations from individuals that keep us going each month as our bank account gets close to 0 again”

Our loyal supporters around the world have been with us every step of the way as our story continues to unfold. Levi’s has been amazing in helping us spread the word about what Thanda is doing and funding the Primary Education program next year- (check out https://www.facebook.com/#!/Levis?sk=app_211692855545581 ). But we still need your support to keep everything else going.

If you can offer anything, we would appreciate donations of any amount. Please visit www.thanda.org for more information on how you can creatively help out our organization. (Definitely check out the Donation Catalogue at the bottom of the page.)

One of the photos available online for a $120 donation

Thank you very much for helping us build such a strong foundation. We are excited to show you how we’ll grow in the coming weeks, months, and years.

Love,

Ang

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The Thanda Story

 

 

Hi, my name is Angela Larkan. In 2006 I founded Thanda and in 2008 I launched Thanda After-School with Tyler Howard and some wonderful colleagues such as Maya Casagrande, Jon Leland, and Holly Buchanan. After requests to hear ‘our story’, this post will be the first of a series where we’ll take a trip down memory lane and then follow up with some news from the ground. I’ll also use excerpts from letters I wrote home to show you how we got to where we are today.

Ang and Tyler in front of the newly built Thanda Library and Community Center, 2011.

Eight years ago I was sitting in my college dorm room, procrastinating, when I came across an online article about AIDS in South  Africa. It warned of the millions of children that would be left orphaned by the disease after 2010. Having grown up in South Africa, I knew the country could not handle so many orphans. So, I applied for a grant to go to South Africa to see what solutions were being developed and where investment should be placed.

As soon as I was in those communities, seeing large groups of young children running around by themselves, empty huts with four grave stones in the yard, grannies raising their children’s children, and learning that there could be more than 5 million orphans by 2015, I knew that I had to work to find solutions for this crisis. I did years of research during and after college, developing a model that uses existing school buildings, works alongside local teachers, and hires unemployed youth from the community to support orphans and vulnerable children through after-school programs.

 

This is how we could handle large numbers of orphans, I thought. This is how South Africa could approach its impending orphan crisis.

 

Running a 3-week program for children in Zululand in 2005.

Soon after this, some dedicated friends and I started raising money. Then, in 2008, Tyler and I moved to South Africa with eight volunteers to start Thanda After-School. Within three weeks of being in South Africa, the ten of us and our newly recruited local staff got Thanda After-School up and running and ready to care for 240 children every day. It was a crazy time of enthusiasm, ideas, stress, energy, and difficulties.

Developing programs and curriculum for Thanda After-School

 
“Well, we are now one and a half weeks through the program and still surviving! It is amazing! I had a moment to stop spinning the other day when I went to the soccer field, and the reality caught up to me there. Beautiful rolling hills dotted with huts and slews of problems. Incessant hunger, a generation lost to AIDS, and little hope for employment. Yet 160 kids were running their hearts out, screaming and shouting after the ball, so excited to be part of a team for those few hours. Then we headed back to the site. Teams of students in their red Thanda After-School t-shirts were walking back with balls, artwork, and cardboard laptops, chatting about their afternoons. They had an energy that I hope will survive.”

Happy to be in Thanda

 

Holly helps a Thanda student with homework

 

Seven months later I wrote home…

“Living and working in Africa is like being on an emotional and physical roller coaster that never stops. Each day is filled with problems — some immediate, some from 100 years ago — and then there are moments of extreme happiness. Life is raw and undiluted, and it is our job to support our students as they deal with whatever poverty is dealing that day.

 And so things always go wrong. Something breaks. People get sick. There are floods. Children become orphans. Yesterday one of our youngest students tells us there is no more food at home for the family of 14. These are the stresses that fill our days and cause us to work late into the evenings, because they are immediate and because they are life-threatening.

Then are frustrating moments. When I take a granny and her 7 orphaned grandchildren to get ID documents and social welfare grants. And we wait in lines all day, going from one department office the other, only to be told that the (disabled) grandmother must go to the city offices instead.   

  

There are emotional moments. When my heart tightens and tears pour down my cheeks. On Sunday our under-13 Thanda soccer team competed in a tournament of 24 teams. When they made it to the final, I cried as I watched them standing in front of the crowd of 500 people, with their hands on their hearts and their heads down, singing the national anthem. They looked so grown up, so serious and proud. With no cleats and wearing make-shift uniforms many sizes too big, this was the biggest achievement of their lives.

The best moments are what we now call ‘Thanda moments’. These are precious moments when we realize that we are helping, that we are part of something so incredibly important. When we go up to the basketball court unannounced one Saturday with one ball and soon there are 80 children from all over the community, asking if they can play with Thanda.”

Getting stuck in the mud

 

Thanda August 2011

It has been a long journey, but when I get a chance to look back and see what we have accomplished in three-and-a-half years, I am proud of what we have achieved. A few weeks ago Tyler and Sbusiso ‘Raah’ Msimango (Thanda’s manager) boarded a plane to present at the 2011 National Association of Child Care Workers conference. I couldn’t believe that in so little time we had taken an idea and turned it into reality.

 

Don Mattera, patron of NACCW, makes the opening speech

At the conference, they urged others to consider using schools as a support structure for children in the afternoons. They told people about using creative activities and tools to bring learning, comfort, and support to children growing up alone. And they spoke not about theories, but from experience.

Thanda staff training at Noah

Over the last four months Thanda After-School staff have designed and implemented daily training sessions for a neighboring organization called Noah. They recruited 18 volunteers from the local community and taught them how to provide educational and emotional support to over 300 more children after-school. It has been fun!

Twin teaches gardening to new recruits

 
Thank you for reading and supporting Thanda!
 

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Thanda’s Library gets a head start!!!!

Hi everyone, my name is Bonnie. I have been working for Thanda After-School for almost two years now. I work in the office in South Africa and it has been an amazing experience so far. 

After a long wait and a lot of fundraising, we are very proud to be setting up the Thanda Library! Although the walls of the Thanda offices and Community Center are still being plastered, the Library half of the building was completed enough for six lovely ladies from the UK to come out in June and start decorating the room. They brought loads of books and posters, and spent two days helping to transform the library into a welcoming and inspiring environment for reading. The goal was to show everyone what the library could look like once completed. I was lucky enough to tag along for their visit, so here is the story…

Vistors included (from left to right): Lynn O'Brien, Genean Stec, Holly Howard, Ang, Susan Rusbasan, Tyler, Lisa Stoclet, Lynn Herbert

The trip out to the site was once again breath taking.

We arrived as 11 Thanda After-School programs were in session and got to see some of the 325 orphans and vulnerable children that were receiving support from Thanda staff at that time. The youngest children performed a song for us, ate their lunch, and then started on their lesson for the day.

The Grade 4 class surprised us with traditional Zulu dancing to a very loud drum and then they proudly sang their national anthem.

At the high school, we watched the Dance program perform and some very shy, but very brave high school students even got up to dance alone.

The next morning we were ready to get to work! Thanda’s Manager, Raah, first spoke about how this will be the first library in the area and how it will open so many opportunities for the children, “words cannot describe what this means to me, the community, and everyone,” he said.

Nosipho got up and spoke about how special Ang and Tyler are and how much the community loves them. She said the staff might be young, but they are growing and learning. She said how patient and understanding Ang and Tyler have been, as well as how they are always there for them.

Angela and Tyler

Ang walked around showing every one where each section was going to be in the library. There is even going to be an area where elders from the community can come in and record the history of the area, so that it will be preserved for future generations.  

Everyone got stuck in and slowly the kiddies corner started to come alive with book cases filled with wonderful stories and pictures on the walls. Before everyone’s eyes the library started to take shape.

 

Even though the building is still under construction, the ladies had fundraised for supplies and we were able to put some lovely plants and shrubs in front of the centre.  It was amazing how that little bit of color just changed the whole feel of the building and made it come alive.

 

In fact the whole transformation that took place was amazing!

At the end of the day, one of the Thanda teachers bought her Grade one children up to the centre. It was incredibly emotional to watch them run and skip up to the front door. “They know this place,” their teacher said. “Six months ago they had their Christmas party on the foundation’s concrete slab”. They became very quiet as soon as they walked in. Slowly and with big eyes, they looked around in awe. They quickly moved towards the pillows on the floor and the stuffed animals, holding these close to them with little smiles. Mrs. Howard started reading a story and there was silence as 30 little faces stared at the pictures and listened to the story. They were captivated and there was not a sound until the last page.

We are so looking forward to finishing the library and many more story times.

We visited a child with a physical disability this week and although she loved to read, she had no books at home for the whole three weeks of school holidays. We couldn’t help but think what a difference this library will make.

We need your help! If you would like to help us finish the library to be a place of safety and comfort where children can enjoy reading and learn, please support our current library campaign at http://www.indiegogo.com/Thanda-Library  With a donation to help fund a safety guard, librarian, books, and activities for the library, you will receive a card or book handmade by some of the children!

A big thank you to Elisabeth for the lovely books that she donated to the Thanda Library.

To support Thanda’s regular programs for orphans and vulnerable children after-school, please go to http://thanda.org/donate.html

A special thank you to Lisa Stoclet for allowing us to use her beautiful photos in our blog.

 

“You can do what I cannot do.
I can do what you cannot do.
Together we can do great things.”

— Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Thank you!

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Spring 2011 Newsletter

Hi Every one, hope you are all well. As  I mentioned in the last blog Thanda After –School is busy and going from strength to strength and so many wonderful things are happening right now and its all thanks to you and your support and faith you have in us. As well as to the fact that we have such wonderful staff.

But just one thing, on behalf of the whole Thanda family we would like to thank everyone for their support at our New York event in April and to everyone who has and will be supporting our Gala event that is taking place in May.

For this blog we decided to spice things up, so instead of a normal blog we decided to put the  quarterly newletter in its place. Now this is not just any old newsletter it’s a newsletter written by the founder Angela Larkan. I hope you enjoy it

A note from our founder:

“Thank you for this opportunity.” I’ve been hearing this a lot lately. With eyes looking down and feet shuffling, embarrassed and shy, they express how they feel. And then I see a smile. Grateful for the opportunity to join Thanda so they can learn skills, receive support, and be part of something every day. Grateful for the opportunity to continue their schooling or just have a book to learn how to read. With so much neglect, with so many millions of orphans in their country, more than anything, they are grateful to be seen and to be somebody. Children that would still be ‘forgotten’ if Thanda had not given them this opportunity.

Thanda is still growing, and this year marks a new page in our story. One where we become a leader in after school support for orphans in South Africa and where we expand our reach with our new Community Center and Library. We are already providing opportunities to so many ‘forgotten’ children, but there are still millions who need our support. Yet continuing the program becomes harder and harder financially each month. Costs add up with transport in rural areas, providing 1,500 meals per week, and paying our 15 staff who work day in and day out to support and teach these children.

We will not give up trying, but we ask you to think about these children and consider helping us so we can continue helping them. At Thanda, we can do what their parents no longer can – make them a meal, help them with their homework, give them attention every day, and teach them to dream. And you can help. Please help us give them the care we know you would like to see them have.  And for that, we say, “Thank you for this opportunity.”

YOU ARE INVITED…

FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2011

Orphans Against Aids/THANDA Gala Fundraiser

We are proud to announce that Orphans Against AIDS and THANDA are teaming up to host a gala fundraiser! We are counting on this event to help fund Thanda for the rest of the year, so please buy a ticket here (link to gala page) and invite your friends.

Exit Art

7 p.m. – 10 p.m.

475 Tenth Ave

New York, NY 10018

Thanda staff and kids have been creating works of art to be displayed at the event

Cocktails- Hors d’oeuvres- Silent Auction- Jewelry- Video- Artwork by Thanda

Thanda Has a New Website!

Check it out at www.thanda.org.

Thanda supports future generations and communities in Africa by developing local, sustainable solutions to the continent’s most pressing issues: care for orphans and vulnerable children, HIV prevention, and poverty alleviation.

Please support these vulnerable children by donating online or mailing a check HERE  http://www.thanda.org/donate.html

Thanda’s Success: The Proof is in the Numbers!

In a rural area where weather affects people greatly and illness is common, average attendance at Thanda averages 90%!

       85% of students report that, overall, Thanda has helped improve their lives.

       87% of high school students believe that vegetable gardens are important and valuable.

       73% of students say Thanda makes them proud of their community.

       There was a 54% increase in accurate knowledge about HIV/AIDS between March and November 2010.

       Between 2009 and 2010, 20% more of Thanda’s students said they would like stay in their rural areas after high school to make a difference in their communities rather than move to the city.

The Thanda Staff

 

Thanda Scholarship Winner Begins Nursing School

Khanyisile, a former Thanda student who received a Thanda scholarship to study nursing, began her coursework at Oceanview Nursing College this month. She is excited to be in school and says she is eager to make a difference in people’s lives.

If you would like to help fund Khanyisile’s next few years of nursing school, please email info@thanda.org for more information.

Khanyisile when she volunteered at Thanda After-School

Library and Community Center Nears Completion

Construction of Thanda’s new community center is underway, and we should be able to move into our new home in just a few months!

Thanda’s soon-to-be library

One of our donors has agreed to give us a matching donation of $1050 to help fund shelves for the library! If you would like to help us reach our goal of getting our books out of storage and onto bookshelves by June, please email info@thanda.org to contribute to this generous matching donation.

Thanda Offers Training to Partner Organization

This month, Thanda began offering training to NOAH, a project that supports 250 orphans and vulnerable children in IChabane. Through daily workshops over the next three months, our staff will implement Thanda’s HIV prevention and after-school programs into their project.

Noah

Focus on Agriculture!

This quarter, we have been raising money to fund and expand our agriculture programs. With courses for Thanda students, as well as local community members, Thanda’s agriculture program teaches practical skills that help to create fresh and sustainable local food supplies, decrease malnutrition, and promote self-reliance.

AgricultureThose who were able to attend the ‘MEET TWIN’ event in New York had the opportunity to hear about Thanda’s agriculture programs from the agriculture teacher himself, Twin Doyisa!Holly, Twin and CiCi

Twin went on to Oklahoma where Oklahoma State University hosted him to speak on community agriculture and learn about leadership. Twin says he feels “more equipped now with the skills necessary for me to go out there any help my organization and my community”. Twin was especially touched by the hospitality of the people he met and the support for Thanda overseas, saying that “what they shared really inspires me to do my job very well and with respect”.

Twin in NYC

 

Twin in Oklahoma

Eye Tests and uniforms!

Towards the end of 2010 Spec Savers offered eye tests for each child at Thanda and gave them sunglasses. At the start of the new year, Thanda gave school uniforms and shoes to children who could not afford them at 4 local schools.

Thank you for your support!!        www.thanda.org                  info@thanda.org

Driven by a young, active, and passionate team, Thanda After-School has a unique approach to development. Sustainable, local solutions for global issues are giving Thanda recognition as “leaders in community development.”

View from the Community Centre Site

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