Life-changing Education for South African Children

Dear Friends of YOUPSA,

The extraordinary experiences that we are able to bring the children in our programs are due to your very kind partnership with us - we could not do it without you! This opens up their worlds in tremendous ways and makes them thirsty to learn so much more. Read the news about some of the experiences that the children have enjoyed during the past few months.

Sharing books & stories together

What better way to spend the afternoon than reading stories together! In various neighborhoods, YOUPSA has established Mobile Library & Reading Clubs. Other than these clubs, children have no access to books for reading for pleasure. Children absolutely love this opportunity to read together, discuss the topcs, learn new words, play games, and explore the world through books.

The magical experience of a horse adventure

One of our groups visited the Klein Karoo Horse Adventures farm. The children learned about saddle and bridle, how to mount and dismount. They were each assigned a horse, learned to touch it, smell it and communicate with it. After that the children led their horse to a ring where they were helped to mount it and then ride it. This extraordinary experience helped the children break their boundaries and heal trauma. Each of them could experience a deep connection and love for a beautiful and powerful animal.

Collaborative art

Art is a vital aspect of the YOUPSA programs. Rural children do not have opportunities to do art anywhere else in their life, and they always ask for more! During one afternoon, each of the YOUPSA children created their own individual slices of pizza in the form of drawings on card. When we put these slices of art together to make a whole, everyone was excited to see how their artistic contribution resulted in beautiful 'pizzas'.

Making skipping ropes from trash

We love helping children learn to make use of what is around them, at no cost. Every child collected 15+ discarded plastic shopping bags, washed and dried them and then learned the art of making a durable skipping rope out of them. At the end of the session the whole group was joyfully skipping with their new ropes - they were unstoppable!

Thank you for being kind donors and champions for these children! Please stay connected and cotinue supporting our programs.

With much gratitude and warm regards from the YOUPSA Team

Childrens' Mural Art Project

Children are the community's best artists. Look at the pictures of the beautiful murals that the YOUPSA children painted on two public buildings in their neighborhoods. They first learned how to use paint brushes and rollers, and how to apply paint on the wall. Then they spent time designing their own unique flowers on paper and freehandedly transferred these to the wall using chalk.
During the entire project children did everything themselves, from start to finish. Adults only provided the materials, mixed the different paint colors and gave guidance when asked. Creating something big and vibrant in their own neighborhood was such a transformative experience.

Outing to organic farm

YOUPSA's kids went on a special outing! Spensplaas is an organic farm project just outside of town. Going on educational outings to explore the wider world, build relationships and learn new things is a vital part of the YOUPSA programs. Rural disadvantaged children hardly ever have the opportunity to get out of their neighborhood, yet they are so eager to explore and grow.

Ending 2021 on an exciting note

YOUPSA wrapped up the after-school programs for 2021 with Christmas parties for the different groups of children, including pizza, a selection of fresh fruit and many surprise presents for each of them. The best ever Christmas for these children came true! They couldn't believe it when they received their presents and the delicious foods.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our supporters for making our programs possible for these otherwise forgotten children. Your good heart made a world of difference in each of these children's lives!

Summer holiday is just ending in South Africa and we are about to resume our programs for 2022. Please stay connected and consider making a donation now to help us get off to a good start for the year.

With much gratitude and warm regards from the YOUPSA Team

Dear Friend of YOUPSA,

A heartfelt Thank You to all of you who have donated to this project so far! We are really moved and grateful. It's because of YOUPSA's dedicated global community that the children in our programmes continue to grow and thrive.

The past months have been packed with adventure and good news. Here is a brief update about what's been happening in our programmes.

Understanding numbers, their values, and how numbers change after an arithmetic operation is vital knowledge for life! Children naturally love any opportunity to learn new things, and they can do so in the safe and supportive environment they experience with us.

Every week we are helping the children develop number sense - an understanding they have not developed in school. The majority can unfortunately not do even just simple operations before coming to our programme. We used beautiful beach stones to help get a feel for addition and subtraction. The children appreciate that we focus on the process of learning and not just on the outcome of being right or wrong.

One of YOUPSA's youth volunteers is passionate about drawing. We thought of giving her an opportunity to take that further. Christiana has never had exposure to art lessons or anything outside of her farm. We arranged for a well-known artist in town to give her weekly art lessons. She could not believe this is happening to her! This is wonderful for her personally and a huge inspiration for her entire community. Her artwork has changed immensely over the past couple of months and she has begun to shine.

One group of the YOUPSA children visited 'Klein Karoo Horse Adventures' and had a chance to learn about, directly interact with and ride horses. Rural disadvantaged children hardly ever have the opportunity to leave their neighborhood to explore the wider world. Having the opportunity to lead and ride a horse gave them incredible pride. The children learned about the saddle and bridle, how to groom horse and take care of its hooves, how to mount and dismount, and ride through obstacles.

This outing was an extraordinary adventure for the children. Not only did they learn that being gentle and communicating with a horse leads to great joy, they could also explore their own boundaries in a very positive way. Experiencing such a big animal’s response to kindness and respect was extremely healing for them. What a magical day!

We are so grateful for your commitment to supporting YOUPSA's programmes and helping these beautiful children grow.

Warm regards,

The YOUPSA Team

Dear YOUPSA Friends,

YOUPSA started the Afterschool Enrichment Programme for disadvantaged rural children in the beginning of 2019 and began its transition away from programmes in the schools. The Afterschool Enrichment Programme has been running very successfully for 2 years now and takes place on farms and in villages. The timing of this transition was very fortunate because in 2020 the lockdowns began and all schools closed for the forseeable future. The schools have recently reopened, but only sporadically, and are not open to any other programming offered from outside. So we are very glad we can continue to support the children outside of school.

The childrens’ parents are working till late on the farms, which means that there is no supervision. There are no sports, recreational facilities, activities or play areas. In the afternoons children are vulnerable to crime and other negative influences. YOUPSA’s weekly Afterschool Enrichment Programme is the only structured and educational activity that is offered to the children far and wide. At least during this time, parents and farm owners have peace of mind, knowing that their children are in a safe and enriching environment.

At YOUPSA we understand that the most important thing for children to unfold is to have space and freedom to express themselves. They need opportunities to find their own identity - this cannot be done by force or rote learning. In addition to space, we at YOUPSA build a nurturing environment in our Afterschool Enrichment Programme where children can interact with each other and their mentors.

When nine year old Hendria she began the YOUPSA Afterschool Enrichment Programme she was very shy and not accustomed to being asked a question or expressing her ideas in front of others. Now she loves to organise everybody and is a leader in the group. Hendria has become a shining and confident girl, always having fun and making everybody smile. See a picture of her attached.

Please consider supporting this special programme that is perfectly suited for these difficult times.

With warm regards and best wishes,

The YOUPSA Team