Project Report
| May 13, 2014
Books for our Book Bus
By Sophie Birkett | GVI Charitable Trust
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Dear Supporter,
Access to books is an issue in the Nomzamo and Zola communities and therefore limits parents’ and local staff’s ability to support their children through reading. Research has shown the high importance of reading to children as part of their learning, it has a direct impact on a child’s ability to develop language and to become literate.
Reading aloud to children is such a crucial part of their development. That’s why we raised funds to buy books. We will use the books on our “Book Bus”. The Book Bus will be more than a mobile library, it will be a reading experience. We’ll travel to the different child care centres in the community. The children will climb on board the Book Bus and our volunteers and local staff will read books with the children. This is our way of taking books to the families and children of the Nomzamo and Zola community.
Already we have seen the benefits of introducing a book time at Ikhayalethemba orphanage. We have developed a culture of reading which has supported other aspects of the children’s development. Our GVI volunteers have been a huge part of this.The Book Bus and the focus on reading to children will allow us to spread this even further. The Books purchased following the Read To Children Challenge will help get our Book Bus off to a good start.
Thank you for supporting these children.
All the best
GVI Cape Town
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Feb 28, 2014
Mama Lumka loves her children, every last one
By Chi Nguyen | In-the-Field Representative
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The following is a postcard from Chi Nguyen, GlobalGiving's In-the-Field Representative in South Africa, about her recent visit to Global Vision International Charitable Trust.
Mama Lumka, the team, and the project in Ikhayalethemba Village all have their hearts in the right place. They are truly trying to do right by these kids, and their love for them shows. They recently built a sensory room for their disadvantaged children, where there are caterpillars and butterflies drawn on the walls with different fabrics and materials so that they may experience and eventually identify these textures. There is a walking station where they teach or rehabilitate children to walk, and a basic massage station for exacerbated physical tension or atrophy, such as clenched fists or weak limbs.
Mama Lumka and team are hoping to bring the bakery back to life and begin construction on a nursery to help generate their own source of income for the project while simultaneously doing their best to maintain the grounds and their current programs. They are doing great work and fulfilling the needs of the community, but as more parents and children from the surrounding community come to Mama Lumka for help, Mama Lumka & team are finding themselves to be under quite the financial burden. Mama Lumka herself is a bit tired these days, as she is taking on as much of the physical work and day-to-day needs of the projects while still doing her best to look to and plan for the future. She needs more funding to hire and retain staff workers who can help her with the growing number of children at all project sites. She is slowly but surely familiarizing herself with the tools of technology and hopes that this will be one strong avenue through which she can reach more donors to help her with her 20+ babies.
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Dec 31, 2013
Thank you from Ikhayalethemba
By Sophie Birkett | Charitable Trust manager
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Thank you from Ikhayalethemba, ACJ primary school, Nomzamo township, GVI Cape Town and the GVI Charitable Trust. What a year we've had thank to your support and donation.
Saying a special thank you in this photo is one of the special needs kids at Ikhayalethemba. She could hardly move when she first arrived, let alone paint something like this! So the special needs work by volunteers and staff plus the special needs equipment we've been able to buy with your donations have made a massive difference to her life!
There is a reason for the term "special needs" and it's in the word "special". The children here are so beautiful; so individually special. There is something incredibly unique about sharing time with those with special needs and I believe it to be in the power of the moment that is unavoidable when in their company; a value and lesson in life that is hard to grasp.
A huge part of this year was the brand new sensory room. We were keen to give these children a space of their own, where they could also develop and work on their skills. Transforming a cluttered, dull container into a peaceful haven containing a hub of sensory tools, offering ample approaches to communicating with each child.
Some volunteers with qualifications in such an environment put together a presentation where they explained the diagnosis of each child and how the sensory room can be used for each to help with his/her specific needs, meaning this information will be passed on to ensure continuity and consistency in the children's progression.
We are incredibly appreciative of your support and that you care as much about these children as we do. We hope you have a fantastic new year.
GVI Cape Town
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