Food Security South Africa Project #46841

Help Pay Volmoed Staff Wages in lean winter months

by The Volmoed Trust (for Healing And Reconciliation In South Africa)

Project Report | Apr 27, 2023
Volmoed Staff Report for April 2023

By Wilma Jakobsen | Project Leader

Volmoed Staff Report for April 2023

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR GENEROUS DONORS!

As always we are grateful for so much. Despite all the difficulties of these times, especially rising costs of food, fuel and electricity, along with several hours of loadshedding (rolling blackouts of power) every day, we are still standing and still joyful! We are grateful to our generous donors who made it possible for Volmoed to stretch and give a 10% increase to Volmoed staff. We wish it could be more and continue to engage in fundraising to do so.

Our staff member Maggie continues to be very happy with her new right eye. The happy update is that the ophthalmologist we approached was delighted to be able to help with the new specs she needed. In the end he did it all for free – this was unexpected. How grateful we are, for the surgeon and the ophthalmologist who provided their services and expertise for nothing. Maggie is sparkling with her new specs.

Sadly, Blazio who looked after our family of cows, has taken on a better job at another farm, which has more potential for security as he gets older. We are happy for him but this is a big loss for us. We hosted a farewell event for him, where everyone got to say goodbye and enjoy some great eats.

Even more sadly, we have said farewell to the cows, who now live on the neighboring farm, so they have not moved too far.

As the number of groups who come to Volmoed is slowly increasing, so does the staff work load. They are busy and work whole heartedly to make Volmoed the beautiful and beautifully maintained place it is. What a gift they are to Volmoed, what a gift you are to Volmoed – thank you!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT

AND ALL YOUR DONATIONS!

WE APPRECIATE YOU!

Links:

https://www.volmoed.co.za

Attachments:

Global_Giving_Staff_report_Apr_2023.pdf (PDF)

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Dec 29, 2022
Volmoed Staff Report December 2022

By Wilma Jakobsen | Project Leader

Volmoed Staff Report December 2022

A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL OUR GENEROUS DONORS!

As this year ends, we are grateful! Despite all the difficulties of these times, rising food and fuel prices, hard times for everyone, we are still standing and still joyful! Thanks to generous donors we were able to give a food gift voucher and a small bonus to each of our staff members this last month of the year.

Our staff news is that Nomveliso’s premature baby came home in October, and has been doing well since then. Her daughter Akuminto came to work one day so that we could all meet her. Our staff family is supportive of one another during hard times, and were very glad to see Nomveliso back at work in late November after her maternity leave ended.

Our staff member Maggie is very happy, as generous donors provided the funds for a much needed cataract surgery for her eye. The surgeon was willing to do it for free, and several donors contributed to the hospital fees. Maggie was overjoyed to be able to see properly out of her right eye after the bandages were removed, and is still very excited about her new eye. A big thank you to these donors!

We managed to have a first follow up to our healing of memories workshop for our staff and residents that took place in August, facilitated by the Institute for Healing of Memories. After the workshop, all the participants asked if we could continue the process of sharing stories in this meaningful way. We gathered to talk about how our lives have been since the workshop, what lessons were learned, what we had experienced. It was a remarkable time of story sharing, as person after person talked about how life changing the workshop was for them and named specific ways in which their lives are now different. As previously reported, Volmoed is a microcosm of South Africa, with differences of race, gender, religion, languages, class, and education. This work continues as part of our vision and mission of healing and reconciliation. We are so grateful that this is making a difference to the lives of our staff and that it continues to shape our life together.

There was a lovely staff year end outing, again funded by your donations. It included lunch together and a visit to the local brand new facility of the National Sea Rescue Institute, where they learned much about this important work, received refreshments and generally had a great time.

In this holiday season Volmoed has been full or mostly full for most of the weeks and weekends, thankfully. Staff are keeping busy! As the year ends, a huge thank you from all of us for your generous support throughout this year. We are so grateful!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT AND ALL YOUR DONATIONS! WE APPRECIATE YOU!

Links:

https://www.volmoed.co.za

Attachments:

Global_Giving_Volmoed_Staff_Report_Dec_2022.pdf (PDF)

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Sep 1, 2022
GlobalGiving Volmoed Staff Report September 2022

By Wilma Jakobsen | Project Leader

A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL OUR GENEROUS DONORS!

The good news is that our Covid-19 restrictions in South Africa were lifted on June 23. This means that we are hopeful that slowly the groups that bring in more income will return, and that events and trainings will take place. We are slowly starting to see this happen but the pace is slow.

The not so good news is that the global economy and Covid-19 have taken their toll on the South African economy, along with our national and political challenges. Electricity, fuel and food prices have rocketed and it is hard for our staff to make it through the month, and Volmoed income is not yet enough to cover all our needs. Through a generous donation, we were able to give each staff member a small monthly increase. We hope to be able make a larger increase at the end of 2022. So we are more than grateful for all the support our donors have given and continue to give.

One of our staff, Nomveliso, had a premature baby in August, so she is currently in hospital with her baby. We are grateful for new life and that her daughter is slowly gaining weight. Our staff are very supportive of each other, and at Volmoed we are like family. Everyone else is healthy and convey their gratitude to our donors.

Our big highlight was the healing of memories workshop for our staff and residents that took place in August, facilitated by the Institute for Healing of Memories. This was a staff development experience and was profoundly meaningful for many, and creative - we drew pictures of our lives, made clay peace symbols, did small group dramas and shared our life stories. Discussions focused on the feelings and themes of the stories, both positive and negative, and healing, reconciliation. There was trilingual translation from English into Afrikaans and Xhosa. Many staff shared their life stories for the first time, finding it helpful, and asked us if we can continue the process of sharing stories. At Volmoed we are a microcosm of South Africa, with differences of race, gender, religion, languages, class, and education, and this was part of our vision and mission of healing and reconciliation. We know this has made a difference to our communal life and that it will continue to shape and inform our life together.

We are hopeful about our future, for more groups to return and income to increase, and to deepen the community that exists between us and within us at Volmoed.

As always, thank you for your ongoing support throughout the year. We are enormously grateful.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT AND ALL YOUR DONATIONS!

WE APPRECIATE YOU!

Attachments:

Global_Giving_Volmoed_Staff_Report_September_2022.pdf (PDF)

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