By Viola Hoppe | Project Leader
Dear friends and supporters,
As we shared in our last report, the past few months have been filled with wonderful celebrations that we were excited to prepare with lots of heart and time — and now we would love to tell you all about them!
On May 23rd, we hosted our annual Neighborhood Festival in the courtyard of our community center. As in previous years, many of our neighbors, PaSch families, and mentors joined us for a joyful afternoon. We offered a delicious buffet, refreshing drinks, and a lively stage program with music and performances from various in-house groups. There were also plenty of games and craft activities for the children. Despite a lot of rain during setup, thanks to many helping hands, the festival was well-prepared and by the afternoon, the sun was shining and the courtyard was full of happy guests. Even a light drizzle at the end couldn’t stop the music or the dancing!
On June 14th, we celebrated PaSch’s 15th anniversary – a special milestone! We invited all our mentoring tandems, families, and friends to join us in the courtyard for this festive occasion. It was a very warm day, so a few families decided to head to the lake, but those who celebrated with us enjoyed a lovely time together. Tandems crafted “tandem bracelets” – because mentorship connects! – played table tennis, and added their memories and wishes to our anniversary book. We reflected on 15 wonderful years of PaSch and listened to the story of one tandem that was matched back in 2013 — now the mentee is taller than their mentor! One family joined us even though their mentors have moved to another city a few years ago — they still keep in touch and visit regularly. It was a beautiful celebration, filled with touching moments, especially when grown-up mentees shared stories about their mentors — about the experiences they have had together, the support they have received, and how much it means to have someone they can always turn to. We are looking forward to many more years of PaSch and are truly grateful for every bit of support that helps keep our project going!
Over the past few months, we have also met with more families and new volunteers interested in becoming mentors. Several further initial interviews are already scheduled. After the summer holidays, we will invite our new mentors for their preparatory workshop, followed by new matchings. So, in late summer and fall, new families and mentors will meet for the first time and start their mentoring journeys – with us at their side. We can’t wait!
What’s next?
In September, we invite our tandems and families to the Circus Cabuwazi workshop – always a highlight for our mentees! In a real circus tent, they get to try out acrobatics with professional trainers, plan their own performance, and present it proudly to parents and mentors.
We are also planning our annual Thank-You Celebration for all our mentors and volunteers, an exchange meeting for our mentors, and of course, our Winter Festival at the end of the year.
Thank you so much for your continued support and donations – it means a lot to us.
We wish you a sunny, restful summer and look forward to sharing more good news soon!
Warm regards,
Your PaSch Team
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