And once again in a flash we are in the middle of August. It’s been a busy but FUN year for us. In March we started working on our Fundraiser Event set to be in Copenhagen Denmark on 1 June 2023. A lot of planning and meetings went into this. The logistics were crazy. Bev and the sewing ladies put together a beautiful merchandise range which we got into 2 suitcases and lugged all the way. It was so worth it and was a hit. The sewing merchandise is a big part of our fundraising at A Reaching Hand and also helps to support the women and their families.

The Fundraiser was a great success!!! The event was held at The Eatery and their team really made the evening special. It started with a welcome from Karin and then handed over to a well known local celebrity Peter Taniv to host the evening further as well as act as auctioneer, together with Hans Svensson. They made an excellent team and the beautiful sponsored items brought in the bulk of the fundraising. We are so grateful to the sponsors!

We were also very excited to see some of our sponsors from Sweden. A few was at the event and we had an opportunity to meet up with some of the others. It was wonderful!

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all who attended the fundraising dinner to help us sustain our community work in Cape Town. Also to those who could not make it, and still donated. Your support was instrumental in making the event a huge success but your presence made the event more special, and we were honoured to have you there.

We raised a total of 69 300 DKK / 10 232 US Dollars!!

THANK YOU so much for your support.

What is Ubuntu in South Africa?

Ubuntu is a capacity in South African culture that expresses compassion, reciprocity, dignity, harmony and humanity in the interests of building and maintaining a community with justice and mutual caring.

Can you believe in a flash we are already in the middle of February. So much have happened since I’ve last been here.

The big sanitary pad hand out to young girls, mothers and aunties in the township. Your donations helped us provide over 100 girls and caregivers with reusable sanitary pad kits to last them for up to 5 years. A real life changer. What a huge difference you are making in their lives. This is big for them! THANK YOU!

Then there was the end of year gift for the little ones and the new year celebrations. Seeing the joy on their faces is a gift to us. The getting them back to school with the stationery and school uniform sponsorships. Thank you so much to all who have contributed!!! We acknowledge that we certainly cannot do this without out! THANK YOU!

As mentioned in our end-of-year newsletter, our focus for 2023 (while keeping our attention on the sustainable running of all our projects) we will this year have a big focus on our “Keeping A Girl Child in School” campaign, as well as energy saving and solar solution plans to help families keep the power on.

THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS, because it is YOU and YOUR continued support and understanding of the critical role we play, that keeps our team grounded, grateful and hopeful.

May this new year bring you more hope, more peace, more joy, more love and a whole lot of UBUNTU xxx

We visited the kindergarten on the 24th of September and loved seeing the kids and their caregivers all dressed up celebrating their heritage.

Heritage mark the entire month of September in South Africa.

Who started Heritage Day?

In an address marking Heritage Day in 1996, former President Nelson Mandela stated: "When our first democratically-elected government decided to make Heritage Day one of our national days, we did so because we knew that our rich and varied cultural heritage has a profound power to help build our new nation."

Heritage Day on 24 September recognises and celebrates the cultural wealth of our nation. South Africans celebrate the day by remembering the cultural heritage of the many cultures that make up the population of South Africa. Various events are staged throughout the country to commemorate this day.

In South Africa, August is Women's Month - and each year August 9th is celebrated as Women's Day, celebrating the strength and resilience of women and their contribution to society and our country.

DURING WOMEN’S MONTH WE KICKSTART OUR PROGRAMME TO CONTRIBUTE TO END PERIOD POVERTY AND OUR CAMPAIGN TO KEEP A GIRL CHILD IN SCHOOL. Recent stats shows that 7 million South African girls do not have access to, or cannot afford to buy, sanitary products.

WE LAUNCH OUR PROGRAMME BY HONOURING THE GIRLS IN OUR ART CLASS ON 20 AUGUST WITH A SANITARY KIT WHICH WILL LAST THEM FOR UP TO 5 YEARS. The kit consist of 6 reusable pads / cleaning kit and drying clips. We will continue to supply all our caregiver with a kit as well as many other young girls in disadvantaged communities. Most of the girls come from unemployed households, where every month families must choose to buy food or to buy sanitary products. Sadly they have to choose the former as it holds more importance for daily survival. Many girls miss 3-5 days of school each month because they cannot afford sanitary pads. Together with other household issues the girls eventually end up dropping out of school altogether.

Menstruation remains a taboo subject and presents many challenges for adolescent girls in South Africa. Cultural taboos about menstruation also harm the dignity, school participation and health of teenage girls.

In some communities, women and girls are still stigmatised when they are having their period. They are forbidden from cooking, livestock, socialising, attending church, and some are subjected to sleeping in a separate room even though they are married. Their mobility and participation are also restricted.

Menstruation is a natural process, occurring in the bodies of half of the world's population. Why is menstrual taboo a big problem, and what is being done to fight this stigma?

Help us Fight Period Poverty and Promote EDUCATION.

Its just another day - PERIOD.

Help us if you can www.areachinghand.com/donate

Some of you might have noticed from our FB Posts and fundraisers last year that we are investing in the repairs and fixing up of an orphanage / safety house in Khayelitsha township located on the outskirts of Cape Town in the Western Cape. Our goal is to make it a more sound and safe structure and to create a safer and happier home for the children. A safe structure is the main requirement from government, Social Development Department in order for them to qualify for financial assistance. We have been so lucky with sponsorships to help us create a new reality for them. It is still a work in progress as the many needs are ongoing.

Sharing with you some BEFORE AND AFTER PICTURES of some of the wall painting work done. We manage to also give Lesley the artist and painter an opportunity to generate an income. We just love the new life he brought into their space.

Here are also some WORDS DIRECTLY FROM MA VIOLET - PRINCIPAL AND FOUNDER OF SINOTHANDO

“Sinothando is a Xhosa word meaning “we have love”. I started this centre because of a small baby who was abandoned by her mother on the streets. I picked up this baby and took her home. I have not seen her mother since that day and I have raised her as one of my children. She is now doing her 3rd year in university. This motivated me to think of building a centre and safe house for babies and children like the one I picked up on the street. In February 2009, I then sacrificed my home to make a home for these children. We have taken in children from 0 - 14 years. Some brought to us by police officers and some by social workers. These children come from different situations, some rape victims, some have TB and others are HIV positive.”

Last week on the 22nd of April we celebrated EARTH DAY. With the help of the lovely Jade at Sprightly Seed who donated and helped us plant lemon, apple and peach trees in our vegetable food garden in the township.

This day is a little reminder to help us change our habits. Let’s together INVEST IN OUR PLANET, because a green future is a prosperous future. This is a good time to plant a tree, start recycling, learn composting or just simply go for a walk in nature. We need grounding as much as we need the air and the sun. Stop and smell the roses :)

This week we also came across this amazing Exhibition by Precious Okoyomon, an installation view of To See The Earth Before the End of the World, 2022, at the 59th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, “The Milk of Dreams,” 2022. The installation uses a variety of organic materials—including butterflies, invasive plant species, raw wool, dirt, and blood—to create and animate life-size sculptures of unknown beings. Deliberately abstract in their representation, these dirt- and blood-encrusted molded forms could be deities, ancestors, or even more ambitious, our future selves. The ambiguity as to what they are allows audiences to become storytellers alongside the work and the artist. I’m including some pics here.

As we approach a colder season in Cape Town, our Soup Kitchen stands by to serve those in need.

Serving the hungry patients visiting the clinic in Scottsdene, a very poor community whose basic livelihood is being threatened due to loss of jobs and lack of food. The ladies serving are our true heroes. They live in conditions of extreme poverty yet still give selflessly of their time to cook and serve soup weekly at the community clinic for the sick and vulnerable as well as deliver soup to the homes of the elderly in the community.

Our Soup KItchen at the community clinic helps feed people living with HIV/AIDS & Tuberculosis, who need to take medication with food in their stomachs.

Life in the poor communities of Cape Town is not easy. Many households are deeply affected by HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and persistent unemployment.

Our Nutrition Programme at the clinic alone, feeds over 2000 mouths every month.

HELP US DO MORE.

https://www.areachinghand.com/donate

The children were super excited to receive these knitted items from Annette in Denmark. Hand delivered to us by her brother Hans Svensson. A suitcase full of handmade jerseys, scarves and caps. Thank you Annette for your labour of LOVE and helping us keep the little ones warm for our upcoming winter. You took our breath away with all the uniquely made pieces! We appreciate you so much and know that so much time have gone into this!!! Bless the hands that made it 💙

To Hans, thank you for always having the kids best interest at heart 💙💙💙

This week we delivered a donation of clothes and toys. Visiting the kindergarten is always heartwarming. There is something about being in the presence of children. So much care and emotion shared when we connect. It is so important for the children to see us, and visa versa. They need us as much as we need them.

It is only February and there are already so many children. Much more than previous years during February. Families have no income. with so many still looking for work since the pandemic. The kindergarten provides a safe place while they go out to try to find work and they know the children get nutritious meals to keep them healthy. It is because of your donations we can do the work and give hope. Thank you!

STAY SAFE EVERYBODY.

New seedlings for a healthy new year for the children at the kindergarten. This garden feeds up to 80 children per day. Children need the right fuel for growing, learning and developing.

We have big dreams this year to expand growth within our garden programme. Watch this space :)

Thank you to our donor who help us make this happen!!!

#areachinghandfoodgarden