Life-changing Education for South African Children

Dear YOUPSA Friend,

We wish you could enjoy in person the moment when all of the children arrive for our Afterschool programme session! There is such a buzz in the room, and lots of stories to share, and eagerness to learn new things.

Thank You to our community of supporters who help us empower the lives of the rural children here. Your care and love makes a huge impact in these young people's lives. We so appreciate you! Please enjoy the news and photos in this newsletter.

Every child should own books
Look at the excitement when a child holds in their hands the very first book they have ever owned! YOUPSA has been distributing hundreds of childrens' books to rural children and reading with them during the school holidays. Most South African children do not own a book or have any exposure to reading.

Learning all about bees
Beekeeper Ria Nolte kindly invited the YOUPSA children to her farm to gain an experience of the world of bees and beekeeping. This helped the children overcome their fear and learn about the importance of bees in every aspect of agriculture and food production.
Ria gave us an all round picture of the life of a beekeeper, what goes on inside a beehive, the function of the frames and how the bees work to make the honeycomb, and how to extract the honey. She explained how bees breed, how they collect and store pollen and honey.

Kaleidoscopes & mandalas
Have you ever been mesmerized by the colourful patterns you see in a kaleidoscope? The YOUPSA children had their very first experience of looking into a kaleidoscope, and they were in absolute amazement! Then everyone put their experience onto paper and made the most beautiful mandala drawings.

Visiting the children at home
The children love it when we come to visit them at their homes. They come running with bright, smiling faces. This is also a good opportunity to meet parents and siblings.

Fun learning with geometry
Tangram puzzles are so popular with the YOUPSA children! Tangram puzzles are a square cut into 7 differently shaped pieces that can be rearranged into infinite geometric figures. Using tangrams boosts spatial reasoning, problem-solving skills, imagination, logic, creativity and enhances math performance.
The rural schools do not teach these important skills. This is why YOUPSA addresses this with the children. Children love the challenge of assembling the pieces correctly to solve a tangram puzzle and feel empowered!

Book & Reading Clubs in Soweto and Idutywa
YOUPSA helped start two new Book & Reading Clubs in other provinces, one in Soweto (Gauteng Province) and one in Idutywa (Eastern Cape Province). These came about through two separate requests from young women who are passionate about reading with children, and wanted to help the children in their area. We sent them each a box of books and have been mentoring them with instructions and programme ideas on a regular basis. We are really delighted that these two book clubs are thriving and uplifting these young hearts.

Help YOUPSA to bring children more amazing opportunities and open up their worlds! Please click the GIVE NOW button below to make a donation. Thank you kindly!