By Cherry Brandstater | Project Coordinator
The tiny monarchy of Swaziland has been hard hit by the AIDS epidemic. Much of the population has been decimated leaving a vacuum of leadership for the future. It has been the mission of New Hope Centre from its inception to take the victims of this national tragedy and enable them to transform their victimization into victory. As a part of this process, the children of New Hope Centre are being educated, trained, nurtured and challenged in rich multifaceted disciplines. These include scholastics, sports, music, dance, public speaking and leadership training. We feel that the more exposure the kids have to their fellow nationals, the more they will understand their needs, attitudes and potentials.
In keeping with those goals, four of our girls attended the All Africa Student Convention on the Bloemfontein University campus. Bloemfontein is one of three South African national capitols and the judicial capitol of the nation. Here our girls entered competitions along with 7,000 other high school kids from all over Africa. They entered competitions in dance, checkers, photography, short stories and poetry. Two of the girls finished fourth out of 300 entries in dance. One made it to the finals in checkers and finished seventh out of 1400 students. As I write this report we have not yet heard the outcomes in short stories and poetry.
Back on the home front our kids are actively and happily pursuing their dreams. Thirteen students have been registered to take the Royal College of Music exams; one in violin, two in flute and the remainder in piano. Our kids have always been avidly involved in swimming and soon, one of our own kids will be able to coach them himself. One of the older boys has taken a course in coaching and is training in nearby Mbabane to become a swim coach. He has represented Swaziland on the National Swim Team in Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg South Africa as well as in Birmingham, England. It is his intention to a swim coach as a lifetime career. Seven of our kids are registered in four levels of ballet instruction and will be taking exams in November. One of the older boys will soon begin his courses in flight school at the Matsapha Airport where he will seek qualification as a pilot. It is his plan to become a commercial pilot.
Education is a critical foundation for our children. We have on-site education from kindergarten thru high school. Our students have had a good and productive year with much enrichment to their curriculum thru additional training. One of our kids has passed her course in first aid and is now able to intervene in emergency situations. She was also able to go on a field trip to Table Mountain and visit Robben Island where President Mandela was imprisoned. This touched her deeply. She is preparing for admission to law school and plans to become a judge.
Some of you receiving this update have done more than just send us the much needed funding to accomplish, continue and plan all of the activities we have shared with you. Some of you have come to help. We have had some turnover in teaching staff this year because of understandable personal needs and demands. So it has been a godsend to have volunteers who have come to fill in the gaps. Ms. Alana came from Australia for two years to work with our youngest students and has received a two year diploma in early childhood trauma care. She is pictured with one of our girls.
And finally, after one of our donors visited from New England he went back home with a deep desire that each of our fifty kids should have a quilt handmade just for her or him with their favorite colors and special interests such as soccer or butterflies. Since his visit, members of his church group have come to visit with suitcases full of as many quilts as they can cram in. They arrive in fours and fives – little by little. Last month four more kids got their own quilts. Those are pictured here.
It is hard to describe to you the depth of impact you have had in the lives of these children. They come from nothing and even now we struggle to be certain that they have all that they really need. But they are so aware that God has sent you to them to help sustain, nurture and love them in this hurting world. Thank you, thank you from the bottoms of their hearts.
By Cherry Brandstater MD | Project Coordinator, New Hope Centre
By Cherry Brandstater | Project Coordinator
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
