This year has been so incredibly full, it is hard to believe we are already in March. I feel inspired reading through the Anna Foundation newsletter and noting all the achievements accomplished: some seemingly small and others clearly large!
For me personally, I love the story we share on Mariska and Hazel. These girls are both past learners of the Anna Foundation who matriculated through our programmes. I remember them as small children with big eyes and eager smiles! Now they are both employed by the Foundation, giving back to the very communities they came from themselves. It has been touching to watch them develop and see the commitment they show in their roles as Anna Foundation staff members. Their joy is contagious and the children are thriving in their care.
- Anna
New project opens
Exciting news! The Anna Foundation has recently launched a brand new after-school project at Merwida Wine Farm in Rawsonville. The project officially opened mid-January this year, providing structured educational, sports and life skills support to 90 children between the ages of 5 and 18.
Our "3 Rs Programme: Reading, Running, Right-ing" is now available every afternoon of the week at the farm's newly built study centre, providing access to library facilities, sports equipment, safe supervision, and remedial support. Three local women have been employed as 3Rs facilitators to work with the children on a daily basis. These dedicated individuals have already started attending our formal monthly training workshops, which ensures they have the necessary skills to effectively implement the programme.
We are delighted to partner with Merwida on this new project and are eager to see their learners flourish! For more information, click HERE.
Past Anna Foundation learners join our staffing team
We often get asked about past pupils and where they go or what they are doing. It is exciting to share the story of two of our past learners who are now part of our team at the Anna Foundation!
Mariska Goliath has joined our Project Management Team to help equip our facilitators for the life skills leg of the programme. Mariska is a former student of our 3 Rs programme and having attended after-school classes as a learner herself, her personal experience as a student enables her to provide valuable insights to the facilitators. In addition to her involvement in the life skills programme, she assists with administrative tasks in the Anna Foundation head office and is the facilitator for the older children at our project on Kanonkop Wine Estate. We are excited to have Mariska on board and look forward to seeing the positive impact she will have on our programme.
Hazel Solomons is another past learner who has joined the Anna Foundation team as a facilitator at our Buffet Olives after-school project. Hazel was part of the Buffet Olives after-school during her school career, and now, having graduated from high school, she is studying towards her bachelor’s degree online while staying on the farm. She has dedicated her afternoons to investing in the younger learners on the farm, and we couldn't be happier to have such a positive role model in our after-school programme.
Education report
We're thrilled to report that we reopened our after-school doors to 500 rural children in January 2023! Since then, our facilitators have been working hard to help the children settle back into a routine after the holidays. Entering a new school grade can be daunting for children, and this is why we’ve developed a structured daily programme to support them in managing new academic expectations. This programme includes homework assistance and specially designed class activities centred around specific themes, aimed at developing their numeracy, literacy, and communication skills.
This term's themes were 'my senses', 'the world out there', and 'respect'. Our facilitators presented engaging lessons around these topics throughout the term, providing the children with an opportunity to practice their reading, writing, and conversational skills while learning about important themes. Our Educational Coordinator has been closely involved in ensuring that our facilitators are delivering enriching class discussions and activities. She has provided them with training on how to get the most out of these activities by activating the learners' prior knowledge and retaining their attention.
Sports report
At our after-school programs, we provide daily sports lessons that offer our learners a chance to unwind and engage in kinaesthetic learning after a long day at school. These sports activities are designed to encourage learning through play by improving motor skills and enhancing physical health, coordination, listening skills and teamwork.
We are delighted to report that our Foundation's 2023 running program has kicked off with a bang. Our learners have already taken part in several 5km fun runs throughout the Winelands, with some of them even securing podium positions! We'd like to extend our thanks to the organisers at Trailfun, Run the Vines, and the Weltevrede Park Run for including us in their events. We're also grateful to USN for providing the fuel our learners need during these sports outings.
For our 2023 cycling programme, we are focusing on getting our younger children to learn to ride bicycles for the first time. Our Sports Manager has been spending more time setting up simple courses for our younger learners to try out, in addition to our regular visits to local pump tracks with the older children. As a result, 5 of these young beginners were selected to participate in the first “Epic Kids: Future Legends” race hosted on the final day of this world-class event at Val de Vie Estate. What a perfect way to truly inspire these children!
Life skills report
Our daily Life Skills programme continues to provide children with a safe and supportive environment to develop their self-expression, self-esteem, and self-confidence. These skills are crucial to our mission of holistic development, particularly for our learners who may not have access to a nurturing space where they can learn positive values. At the Anna Foundation, we are dedicated to making a real and long-lasting impact on the lives of the children we serve, and our ultimate goal is to empower each child to become an influential citizen in South African society.
Women empowerment
Our project management team has been hard at work hosting monthly training workshops for the farm women who currently facilitate our after-school projects. Three formal training sessions have been held so far, and we are delighted to see some fresh faces in attendance, including the three new facilitators at the Merwida project and three more facilitators in the Boland region.
During the first few training sessions, our Project Managers emphasized the importance of mindfulness in the classroom. They explained that the facilitators' ability to process and understand their own emotions is crucial to maintaining a stable emotional environment for the learners. We know that this emotional stability is key to creating an optimal learning environment for the children, and so we discussed practical strategies for maintaining it.
Our head Educational Coordinator, Marike Pieterse, also used one of these training sessions to present a few mock lessons around this term's themes. This gave the women an opportunity to consider their own lesson planning and workshop together. We are confident that the skills and knowledge gained from these training sessions will enable our facilitators to continue providing high-quality education and support to the children in our after-school programs.
Visitors from the USA
In the first term of the year, we were honoured to welcome two American University Soccer teams to spend a day of fun and games with our learners. The Case Western University Women’s soccer team from Ohio visited our Graham Beck after-school in Robertson on 13 January, and then on 3 March, it was the Cabrini Men’s soccer team from Pennsylvania who visited our Leipzig Primary after-school in the Nuy Valley.
After touring the after-school facilities, the visitors took to the field to play some icebreaker games and share their soccer skills with our learners. These were both wonderful experiences for our learners, and we extend our sincere gratitude to both soccer teams for taking the time to invest in our learners, as well as Edwin Doran Sports Tours for organizing the visits.
A visit from the Jungle Theatre
On Monday 6 March, our learners enjoyed another exciting visit from the Jungle Theatre. The Jungle Theatre is a remarkable Cape Town-based NPO that works tirelessly to empower and inspire disadvantaged children and youth, with a mission to foster positive changes in their lives and promote a peaceful and vibrant South Africa. Through their creative use of South Africa's rich cultural heritage and indigenous languages, the Jungle Theatre weaves together music, dance, masks, puppets, clowning, and storytelling to produce original, accessible African children's theatre shows.
As part of their "River of Life" tour of the Overberg region, the talented performers stopped by one of our after-school programs in the Elgin Valley to share their captivating story of Princess Mamlambo and her river of magical creatures. We were particularly touched by the Jungle Theatre's kind gesture of gifting the school with a copy of the "River of Life" story in English, Afrikaans, and isiXhosa. This thoughtful gesture will undoubtedly provide our learners with continued opportunities to learn, engage and enjoy the magic of storytelling. Thank you to the Jungle Theatre for creating such a whimsical and enriching experience for our learners.
Cape Wine Auction
This year's Cape Wine Auction raised close to R8 million and has now accumulated to a total of R125 million since the first auction in 2014. The event was hosted at the stunning Hazendal Wine Estate in Stellenbosch on Saturday 18 February, with guests bidding generously for various charities and schools providing education for children living in the Cape Winelands. We are incredibly grateful to both the auction and their guests for their generous hearts and support of this incredible initiative.