







Dear friends of Hope and Light
The winter has begun, the nights are cold, and some strong winds and rainfall make us grateful for the recent repairs done to our school building. After a 6-week-long renovation period, the outer walls of our extensive buildings are now restored, waterproofed and painted.
A view behind the scenes: the challenges of our children
Reana* often comes to my office. She scratches through the items on my desk and asks for food, a treat, or some money. I know that Reana receives a well-balanced diet since coming tHope and Light, but breaking a behavioural pattern does not happen overnight.
Rudi* recently moved to a foster family. He is safe now and can still attend our school, but he was not able to leave the sleepless nights behind him. Counselling is needed and the wounds need time to heal.
*Not her/his real name.
News in a nutshell
School
While the painting and waterproofing work was still in process, the heavy April storm damaged part of the roof, gutters as well as security lights. It was a devastating blow to our team who works so hard to maintain the school grounds. But as the saying goes: After the rain the sun will always shine. A new group of volunteers continued with the painting project for our grade Rs which was started by the previous group of volunteers. Now our floor murals provide for fun activities during breaktime. A generous sponsor collected donations for a gardening project and our visitors, staff and children immediately noticed the welcoming atmosphere around the entrance. We furthermore received a donation of second-hand equipment for our planned science lab from the German International School Cape Town (DSK).
ECD
The popular Monkey Town in Somerset West closed for good and as a final treat our kids were invited to pay the monkeys a last visit. A three-course dinner event took place in the school hall to raise funds for our ECD and make it more sustainable. We congratulate Abrameshia and her team for receiving the five-year certification which confirms that we have all our
compliance ducks in a row.
CYCC
We welcome our new social worker, Lizelle, who will complement our team of child and youth care workers, chef, gardener, houseworkers and facility manager. She is sure to have her hands and calendar full while looking after the wellbeing of our children through individual sessions and lending her competencies and involvement to our other facilities where needed.
Overall
To be able to provide holistic support to our learners, we were not only in desperate need of a social worker but also in need of specialised teachers and counsellors. While we have submitted various proposals to organisations in our area and are still waiting for a positive outcome, we are grateful that we can offer tutoring and counselling sessions made possible by another generous monthly donation. Another long-awaited
wish (since 2019) has finally come true: Venessa started her journey with Hope and Light on 1 April and provides administrative support for the sponsorship department, HR department and the directors. Future, here we come!
How you make a difference
Your donations are still absolutely necessary for the continuation of the organisation and we cannot thank you enough! Please share our efforts and newsletter with people who might be interested in getting involved. Currently 17 of our learners are waiting for a sponsorship commitment.
Let’s continue to fight for the vulnerable in our society!
Best wishes from Neville, Anthea, Judith and the entire team at Hope and Light
Thank you!
To family Becker for their learner support donation
To the DSK for the science lab equipment
To Roland and Chris Runge for the garden project
To FoodForward SA for monthly food donations
To FEBB Vahr in Bremen for their fundraising initiative
To St Richards CE Primary School Ham in the UK for the donation from their Christmas play
To Elisabeth’s library and the donated library funds
To Hope and Light e.V. for the funding of the waterproofing and painting of the school
To the anonymous donation of soccer and netball nets
To all our volunteers and advisors for their selfless support
To the many anonymous sponsors
Income/Expenses January to May 2024
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