Help Educate 22 Children in Zandspruit, S.Africa

Dear Thandanani Friend

Well 2022 has arrived and it brings with it a new set of challenges, but also new hope.

January marks the start of a new school year, and as we have mentioned many times before the hope for our children is a good education whereby they can rise above their circumstances and plot a new course for their lives.

Four of our children completed high school last year and all of them are hoping to study further:

• Xoli hopes to study Engineering next year and is eagerly awaiting his final school results, as well as funding applications that have been made on his behalf.
• Palesa hopes to study Teaching and is also eagerly awaiting her results.
• Manana has enrolled to study Hospitality and is just awaiting the confirmation of her funding.
• Esther has enrolled to study an Early Childhood Development course which will equip her to work at a Kindergarten or Nursery School.

It should be noted, that due to Covid, the last 2 years of tuition for the above final-year students has been less than satisfactory, hence the apprehension about their results, and in an effort to assist them with their final year exams we received the voluntary assistance of a group of teachers and ex-teachers who gave up their time every Saturday for about 2 months to give extra coaching - a huge thank you for their assistance.

Your support helps us to help them achieve their dreams, so once again many thanks for every contribution you have made.

Kind regards

Paul

Links:

• Thandanani House of Refuge

As I look back on my reports over the past 18 months it seems that Covid has featured in almost all of them, and I guess it’s a sad reflection on the state of the pandemic worldwide and the disruption it has caused to everyone, not least to Thandanani. I previously reported that we had managed to evade any Covid infections at the Home, but sadly it eventually caught up with us in the last 3 months.

Xoli, who is in his final year of high school, was in the midst of writing his mid-year exams when he tested positive and had to stay at home. But not to be outdone he was able to continue writing at home under supervision, and then to make sure that he didn’t pass any virus back to his teachers, the exam papers were hung out on the washing line for an airing, from where they were collected in due course by our house manager and returned to the school – definitely not an everyday sight to see exam papers on a washing line.

The access road into Thandanani is rather rough to say the least, so it was not surprising when one of our 2 vehicles (which was 12 years old) finally decided to call it a day. As our public transport system is less than adequate we had no choice but to start looking for a replacement, otherwise we’d have had a problem getting the kids to school, visiting the doctor, doing the shopping, etc. So we are now the proud owners of a new Suzuki Ertiga which can transport 7 children, however, it was not an expense that we had anticipated this year, so it has put a strain on our financial resources.

The South African economy has been hit hard by Covid, and the knock-on effect is that many donors are thinking twice before making a donation, resulting in many charities taking strain, and in fact some have had to close due to the reduced income. Thandanani has felt the pinch as well, resulting in our income being somewhat lower than the same time last year, plus we’ve had the expense of the vehicle, so if you are able to assist it would really be appreciated.

As we move out of winter and into spring (in the southern hemisphere), and as the 3^rd wave of Covid seems to be receding rapidly, we look forward with renewed hope and optimism to what the future may hold.

Kind Regards

Paul

Links:

• Thandanani House of Refuge