Here is an update from SOS Africa:

Good afternoon everyone,

I hope that you are all well.

We have just returned from our annual trip to visit all our staff and children in South Africa. It is a wonderful way to start the year as we always return feeling inspired and re-energised having witnessed the life-changing impact which your support enables us to make! After another successful year of fundraising, our education programmes in Mafikeng, Grabouw and Somerset-West have expanded to support 103 children. Our latest Education Centre, launched at the Somerset-West Methodist School in January, also provides a remedial programme to support 56 children with learning difficulties throughout the mornings.

During the first leg of the trip we visited our Mafikeng education programme which has just entered its 15th year of operation. It is an exciting time for the charity in Mafikeng as we have just developed a new partnership with Curro Academy, a new school which opened in 2015; it has already established a fantastic reputation throughout the region. We are pleased to announce that the 3 SOS Africa children who started at Curro in January will be joined by our other Primary School students in January 2018.

During our visit to Mafikeng, we were accompanied by Liesbeth, a Masters Student from the University of Rotterdam. Over the coming months, Liesbeth will monitor our education programme and recommend ways in which we can facilitate a smoother transition from High School to University for our students. Although SOS Africa does not sponsor Further Education, it is vital we ensure that each of our children has a clear plan by the time they graduate from High School. It is hard to believe that these big decisions will soon be faced by Olebogeng and Kelebogile who are now in their final year at Mafikeng High School and will soon follow in the footsteps of our first child Mavis.

We have been delighted with the progress made by each of our Mafikeng children – it clear to see just how much they grow in confidence and ability the longer they are part of our programme. They are a credit to Jenny and her staff who work tirelessly to ensure that they receive all the care and support they need at this important stage in each of their lives.

As is customary, at the end of our visit we threw a big party to celebrate the achievements of each of our staff and children over the past 12 months – we were also thrilled that our first child Mavis, who is now at university, could join in with the festivities.

We hope you enjoy the photos – we will be in touch soon with the latest school reports. As usual, don’t forget to keep checking our Facebook page for regular updates: https://www.facebook.com/SOSAfricaCharity.

Thank you for your continued support!

Matt

 

Kindest Regards,
Dr Matt Crowcombe

Director

SOS Africa