By Jim McKeown | Managing Director
Our Girl's Scholarship Fund continues to operate at near full capacity, despite the pandemic. The major difference is we have added a massive feeding support initiative to the project. With all our students at home and parents losing jobs, we have been distributing thousands of food parcels to ensure no one goes hungry. You built a website to track the project if you're interested: www.projectunity.co.za
Universities all closed in March due to South Africa's nationwide lockdown, but they were able to shift towards online learning in April. The universities are now offering two paths to students: (1) 100% e learning from their own homes now or (2) blended learning with classroom time to be obtained in the future when universities are able to provide it.
The majority of our students have a combination of both of these paths, choosing to complete some courses online now and others in person later. The Department of Higher Education seems committed to ensuring all students remain on their original graduation timelines, but this is to be determined.
In terms of the virus, things are getting pretty bad. South Africa currently has one of the top 10 fastest growing outbreaks in the world. Our positive test percentage is above 25%, which is terrible. However, our death rate is still very low. South Africa's population is extremely young, so we are hopeful that plays to our advantage.
We have continued to operate our Masinyusane House of Excellence, with students on a rotating schedule during lockdowns 3 and 4. The House is fully equipped and reorganised to ensure everyone’s safety and health.
Masinyusane continues to sponsor a number of young women that would otherwise have no opportunity to further their studies. They continue to make us proud and are themselves grateful beyond measure. While semester 1 results are delayed due to the pandemic, the current pass-rate of the students is 88%!
We have tragically had some students lose family members to Covid-19, including a girl in our Masi House of Excellence. This will, unfortunately, continue to be the case as the virus spreads across the country.
But with your support, we will do our best to rally together, fight through this difficult time, and be there for all of the girls in every way that we can.
Thank you, very sincerely, for all of your continued support!
Sincerely,
Jim & The Girls
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