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October 2014 Newsletter
Letter from the Director |
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After nine months with Seeds of Light, I am now finding my feet and am very excited to share with you more about the many extraordinary projects that we support. Acornhoek, South Africa is an area where approximately one in three people is HIV+ and where there is 70% unemployment and very little water. Our outreach and empowerment projects are offering hope and are having a major impact in helping Acornhoek--one of the world's poverty nodes--become more sustainable.
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Seeds of Light on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter
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Seeds of Light has a beautiful Facebook page and is tweeting away. We'd love to have you be one of our "fans" and also follow us on Twitter or Pinterest. Visit our FB page and then hit the little 'thumbs up' to become a fan. You can also link to our Twitter and FB pages at www.seedsoflight.org. Join us! The power of social media is awesome. |
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In May we received great news from the Department of Social Development (South Africa's governmental aid organization)--they agreed to fund the Ekurhuleni Center for Orphans and Vulnerable Children! They are now funding 45 children, and our child sponsorship program is supporting 55 children. In addition, the Center has opened its doors to 40 more children, with a total of 140 children now receiving healthy food, school tuition, and loving care. Our original vision for the Center is now becoming a reality!
We continue to provide our Leadership Forum "champions" with the help they need to take their projects to the next level--some gardening equipment here, some cooking supplies there...I am amazed at how so little can go such a long way.
Our art classes for children are doing exceptionally well and are expanding to the next level. Please read the exciting news below!
I thank you for trusting us at Seeds of Light with your generous donations. Please know the money that we receive is going directly to help the impoverished people and children in this special area of South Africa.
With Love,
Wendy Fraser,
Director Seeds of Light
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ORPHANS VISIT THE KRUGER PARK
During the July school holidays, we took a group of high school students from Ekurhuleni Center for Orphans and Vulnerable Children to visit the world-renowned Kruger National Park, a vast game reserve (about the size of New Jersey, or of the UK, minus Scotland and Wales). Despite living very close to the park, most of the children have never seen the animals. The highlight of the trip was seeing the elephants; the children could never have imagined how big they actually are! The group also enjoyed a very informative lecture about nature, ecology and sustainability from the rangers and ate a delicious and nutritious picnic lunch. Seeds of Light is proud to offer such a life-changing experience for these impoverished children, who would otherwise never be exposed to the world outside rural Acornhoek. |
OUR LEADERSHIP PROJECTS  | |
Micky Theko and community gardeners with gardening tools gifted by Seeds of Light
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The Acornhoek Leadership Forum (ALF) is a Seeds of Light project that identifies leaders who are working to uplift their communities--people with heart, vision and a passion to serve others and make the world a better place. We support these "champions" with workshops and empowerment training in order for them to succeed and excel in their own projects as well as to be able to "teach back" to their community--multiplying our ability to empower even more communities. A great example of sustainability and empowering people to help themselves!
It has been a busy few months for the Seeds of Light team with helping our ALF champions get their projects to a sustainable level. We advise many about fund raising and how to start an NPO. Others need some help with financial management and bookkeeping. The following are examples of how we have helped some of our leaders take their projects to the next level.
Micky Theko received a donation of gardening tools from Seeds of Light, including a wheelbarrow for her community garden. This team has made amazing progress in very little time. The wheelbarrow will be used to bring water from a nearby stream. Well done, Micky and your team!
After retiring as deputy head at a local school, Lekina started a drop-in center for orphans and vulnerable children. She is now feeding 50 children three days a week. Additionally in the mornings when the children are at school, she is feeding many frail, elderly people in the area. Seeds of Light helped provide Lekina with some cooking equipment, a gas stove, pots and plates. Lekina, all of us at Seeds of Light wish you much success with your project!
Lillian Marule wanted to start a small crèche (a child care center). She needed some fencing materials, which we donated, as well as some toys. We know that with Lillian's passion for children, this creche will fly!
Many other leaders are also launching very exciting, worthwhile and sustainable projects to help make Acornhoek a better place. As we receive additional funding, we will be able to support their vital work in the future. Thank you for making this possible.
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Lekina and some children at her
drop-in center
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Lilian Marule receives wire for her fence
and some toys
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GARDENING PROJECTS ENTER THE CLASSROOM
Until now most of Seeds of Light's permaculture trainings have been for the gardeners at the many local schools we support; however, over the last few months Seeds of Light has been extending our outreach by also teaching some of the schoolchildren some basic permaculture techniques. The children have enjoyed learning how to grow vegetables and seedlings in the classroom as well as helping with planting, watering and collecting mulch for the gardens!
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Although the winter in Mpumalanga, South Africa is not too severe, the children's homes are not able to keep the cold out at night. The children always look forward to receiving a warm, wonderful hand-knitted hat made by Seeds of Light's One Hat One Heart volunteers. The children love to show off their beautiful new hats, which are highly prized possessions! This winter over 400 hats were given out to children at many of the creches that Seeds of Light supports, at the Ekurhuleni Center for Orphans and Vulnerable Children, and also to the elderly at two elder care facilities in Acornhoek.
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 | | The Grade 6 and7 girls from Cheue Primary School get Dignity Dreams packs |
DIGNITY DREAMS
Teenage girls in disadvantaged areas often do not have access to sanitary products-a topic that is not talked about much. The girls use rags, socks or toilet paper and can miss up to five days of school every month. If the girls are not attending school, the cycle of poverty continues. Seeds of Light recently partnered with Dignity Dreams to provide reusable sanitary towel packs to the teenage girls at Ekurhuleni Center for Orphans and Vulnerable Children and some of Seeds of Light's partner schools. Dignity Dream's packs can last for 3-5 years and cost as little as $14 per pack. These packs can really change a girl's life!
In addition to the girls at Ekurhuleni, we handed out packs to Grade 7 girls (the last year before senior school) at two of our partner schools. The dream is that we can reach all of the girls before they go to high school. With your generous support, we would love to be able to add more schools to this list before the end of the year.
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OUR ART STUDENTS WIN BIG!
In the last few months, a group of Seeds of Light's art students took part in several local and national art competitions and performed admirably. Our child artists had a chance to show off their artwork and talent--bringing home many prizes. These students also received an opportunity to compete with and travel to schools in other cities in South Africa and to expand their horizons. This is an extremely rare opportunity for children from poverty-stricken Acornhoek, which has helped them gain a new vision and inspiration for their artwork. We see that the art program is essential in building the children's self-confidence and teaches them that they are not empty inside, that they always have internal resources to draw on and that they can create something out of nothing--critical lessons for leading a productive, fulfilling life and for creating a sustainable future for the community. We are so proud of them!
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SEEDS OF LIGHT FEEDS CHILDREN AT CRECHES
In Acornhoek--one of the world's poverty nodes--many parents are not able to pay more than a few dollars per month for their children to attend a crèche (child care center). The caregivers at the creches thus struggle to provide a healthy meal for the children. Seeds of Light has been providing food parcels for some of the poorer creches in the area together with water catchment and gardening training to help feed many orphaned and vulnerable children. Thank you for your generous donations, which make this possible.
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GET INVOLVED
Nothing can be more heart-rending and in need of urgent attention than the case of AIDS orphans. ~Nelson Mandela~
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 ext. 5 or write to us: info@seedsoflight.org. If you'd like to donate today by check or online, please click here. In the Us, 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. Mail: 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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