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October 2012 Newsletter
Letter from the Director |
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Becky Harmon
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Dear friends of Seeds of Light
We have very exciting news to share! We have successfully raised the funds needed to fully build Phase One of the Ekurhuleni Center for Orphans and Vulnerable Children! Phase One includes all fencing of the property, a security hut, two activity centers, a kitchen and dining hall, and toilets. The construction of the security hut, one activity center, and the kitchen and dining hall are almost completed. We have started working on the second activity center and toilet building and hope to have them all finished by the 7th of December, when the builders go on holiday until January.
If all goes as planned, the Center will open for services to children some time in December this year. We hope to serve hundreds of meals to children while the schools are on an extended holiday over Christmas and New Year!
We are extraordinarily grateful to each of you for your support of this important project. Many of you have given so generously and have helped create a place of hope and love for the children in this very poor community in South Africa, and we thank you. An incredible amount of Grace has flowed in making it possible for Seeds of Light, a small non-profit, to manifest the resources needed to create this beautiful Center--by far the largest project Seeds of Light has ever undertaken.
We still need funds this year to furnish the Center with all of the equipment and supplies needed to operate. If you would like to contribute toward plates, cups, tables, chairs, kitchen appliances, etc., we would greatly appreciate help with these essential items.
In addition to the Orphan Center, we have a number of projects underway with schools. We are also providing gardening education to school gardeners, and are teaching two children's art classes every week in our New Dawn Community Children's Art Center. We also have a beautiful, new video on our home page that highlights our work with AIDS orphans. We invite you to take two minutes and watch it.
Our founder, Leslie Temple-Thurston said, "Your capacity to love is the most profound part of you." Thank you for extending yourselves in love to our work.
With deep gratitude,
Becky Harmon,
Director, Seeds of Light
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Seeds of Light Now on Facebook and Twitter
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Seeds of Light has a beautiful new Facebook page and is tweeting away. We'd love to have you be one of our "fans" and follow us on Twitter. Click on http://on.fb.me/rgIIE2 and then hit the little 'thumbs up' to become a fan. You can also link to our Twitter and Facebook pages from our home page. The power of social media is awesome. |
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Melina Mashego, Principal Hloaia Primary School, in their garden
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New Videos Give a Glimpse Into Our Amazing Schools
We have brand new short videos of three of our schools which you can watch at new school videos. The videos will give you a peek inside the schools and let you meet some of the school leaders. Each school also has a wish list, should you want to Adopt a School and designate a gift to them. We are working to complete videos for all seven schools. We'll let you know when they are posted.
We get so excited when we go out and visit our seven rural primary schools. Gardens are blossoming; there is water for cooking, drinking, and hand washing. They are putting forth so much love and effort to provide a strong start for the children. The schools are still understaffed and under-resourced, but the fact that we believe in them and support their efforts to develop, helps motivate them to become better.
One of the schools we partner with, Beretta Primary School, just placed third in the entire country, in the mentoring category of the EduPlant competition. They are the Center for our permaculture gardening education and are doing a wonderful job sharing their expertise with other schools. The difference that we are seeing in the school gardens is amazing.
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Beretta staff and learners with their awards
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Board members with rain water catchment donations
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Ekurhuleni Orphan Center Update
Construction is still in full swing at
Ekurhuleni Center for Orphans and Vulnerable Children.
Finishing touches are being added to the first activity center, kitchen and dining hall and security hut. The walls are going up at the second activity center and the toilet building. Every person who comes to visit is amazed by the beautiful uniqueness of the Center. It is the only drop-in Center for orphans and vulnerable children in the sprawling Acornhoek area.
One of the Center sponsors, Builder's Warehouse, donated gutters, downspouts and JoJo tanks that will catch L20,000 of rain water for irrigating gardens, hand washing and cleaning the buildings. More capacity will be added in the future. We thank them for their support.
The Board has added four new members and is about to complete their application for the Department of Social Development, which will allow them to be reimbursed for the services to children once the Center is open. This is critical to the sustainability of Center operations. In the mean time, they are handing out bread, juice, fruit and vegetables as they come in through donations. They have also started a choir with 60-80 children attending choir practice, and they started arts and crafts activities after school. Everyone is so thrilled to watch the children come to life.
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Orphan Center children
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Seeds of Light help changes the lives of one family of children
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Happiness Lubisi (center) with Theko family
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The Theko family was besieged with a double loss. Their mother died leaving behind orphaned children; then their mother's sister died leaving more orphans. When we met them, there were 14 children in all, living in two small government houses with no income, no food to eat, and no adults to care for them. Their homes were bare, with no beds or furniture for them to sleep or sit on. And yet, they were trying to hold their family together--the older ones taking care of the younger children.
Seeds of Light enlisted the assistance of Happiness Lubisi, our auxiliary social worker scholarship recipient, to help them obtain birth certificates, ID documents, and ultimately, child grants. We transported them to the municipal offices, helped them through the bureaucratic obstacles, and paid for photos and other fees.
Finally, their approval for child grants came through, including a back payment of nearly $2,000, which they used to buy beds, comforters and furniture for the houses. Now they receive a monthly income of about $450. This is enough for them to buy food, school uniforms and get by.
It was very sweet and touching to visit them recently. We were so impressed by the loving way they are taking care of each other, trying to keep their family together without adults, and also heart broken at the way poverty and AIDS is ravaging their young lives. These are some of the children who will be served by the Ekurhuleni Orphan Center.
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Jennifer Traeger, founder of One Hat One Heart,
with children
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One Hat One Heart Warms Children's Heads and Hearts
Our amazing knitters from across the globe enabled us to provide winter hats to hundreds of children this year. Jennifer Traeger, founder of the project, was in South Africa to be part of the annual hat giveaway. It was such fun to see the children's faces light up as they picked a hat that was hand made for them.
Thank you to our wonderful knitters who put such love and beauty into each hat!  
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A Fund Raising Success
"Not all of us can do great things.
But we can do small things with great love."
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Linda Holland, Michele Silver and Linda Garcia
Seeds of Light angels
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Three women in Santa Fe, New Mexico, U. S. A., were moved to do something to raise money to help the Ekurhuleni Center for Orphans and Vulnerable Children. As they talked about what they might do, they settled on a garage sale. They figured we all have lots of "stuff" that we are not using that someone else might treasure.
As their planning continued and they started contacting other folks to help, the support started pouring in. The New Mexico Bank & Trust came in as an event sponsor, one of the schools offered their space, practitioners of all kinds donated treatments and sessions--in short, it transformed from a garage sale to an event!
Linda Garcia said, "There was face painting, tarot readings, and the donated items flew off the shelves." Many other volunteers joined in to make it a love-filled community event. When all receipts were tallied more than $9,200 was raised! Our deep gratitude to Linda Holland, Michele Silver and Linda Garcia for their extraordinary Love in Action.
If you are inspired to fund raise for our work, please let us know and we will help you. We have videos, brochures, stories, everything you need to make it a success. Contact Mona at (505) 424-8844 or write to us at info@seedsoflight.org.
If you'd like to donate today by check or online go to: http://bit.ly/SoLDonate
Your donations are fully tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Seeds of Light's mission is to assist with the awakening of the Global Heart, which we perceive to be the interconnectedness of all life through tolerance, forgiveness, love and compassion. Seeds of Light is the humanitarian service arm of CoreLight, a spiritual non-profit organization dedicated to inner and outer peace in the world, based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. Seeds of Light does not impose any spiritual beliefs on the people it supports.
Seeds of Light, 223 N. Guadalupe #275, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
Phone: (505) 424-8844/ Toll free in USA/Canada: (888) 989-3552
Fax: (505) 424-8848
Email: info@seedsoflight.org
Website: www.seedsoflight.org
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