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Holiday greetings and thanks.

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Holiday greetings and thanks.



Depending on where in the world you are this holiday season, you may be reading this blog somewhere with near-freezing temperatures.  Alternatively, you could be patiently waiting for the electricity to kick on and offer some reprieve from an unforgivingly hot day. Depending on your location, some will spend Christmas at the beach.  Others, in a colder part of the world, will be huddled up somewhere cosy in an effort to escape the freezing temperatures.  
Some will have a braai to usher in the holidays while others will stuff a turkey or make a Christmas ham followed by pudding.  While each country has its own unique traditions, one common thing strings us together this holiday season-- gratitude.  
Thembalitsha Foundation could not let the year draw to an end without taking a moment to say thank you to everyone who helps make this giant dream of ours a reality.  Restoring hope takes a global village.  
To our donors and partners across the world-- know that …
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"I love to write" Day

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Literacy; opening doors and unlocking potential.

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“International Literacy Day celebrated annually on 8 September, is an opportunity for Governments, civil society and stakeholders to highlight improvements in world literacy rates, and reflect on the world's remaining literacy challenges” - The United Nations.  At Graceland, literacy is something that is taken very seriously, we sat down with our wonderful Project Manager, Elizabeth to ask her to share some stories about the children at Graceland, and what literacy has unlocked in their lives. Here is what she had to say!  We are thankful to have a space to dream, think, learn and grow. Our library is our safe haven, where imaginations can run wild and free. It wasn't always this way, but thanks to the generous funding from Imperial Logistics in 2014, our children have a loft Library, something of which dreams are made of!  Before we had two old bookshelves in the teacher's office, but thanks to Imperial, we have a dedicated space to teach our children all about reading and …
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It doesn’t matter who you are or where you live...

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On attending the Agape 2018 Graduation, we were met with a beautiful success story of Odwa Siwundla, a young girl that grew up in Asanda Village. 
Odwa had attended Agape from the age of 10 months old, enrolled in early 2012 and remained in the school, successfully completing her Grade R in 2017. Odwa was always a quiet child but seen as a confident leader by her peers. She did very well with all her school work, and as children do, she always loved to play. At Agape they strongly believe in the beauty of learning through play. A child’s ability to learn is shaped during the first six years of life through a holistic approach which emphasises the importance of the child’s physical, emotional and psychological well-being.
Today, she is in Grade 2 in Somerset House; a unique, well known private school in Somerset West. For some, this may seem normal, attending a school in a suburban area, but the sad reality of it is, people living in impoverished areas don’t attend “good suburban” school…
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BEHIND THE THEMBA TRAINING DESK

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BEHIND THE THEMBA TRAINING DESK
It is an early start to the day in beautiful, Nomzamo. I’m assisting the team who are handing out 500 fleece blankets to less fortunate community members. There are wonderful conversations on the go, and everyone is getting to know each other a little bit better. 


Nonkqubela, one of our Themba Training Alumni who had made these blankets, looks on from the side, pride evident in her eyes. To think that only 11 months ago, Nonkqubela arrived at our Basic Sewing Training course, barely knowing how to switch a sewing machine on. I feel very privileged to have been part of the team to produce these 500 fleece blankets for this event, knowing that 2 people benefit from each blanket here today: the person receiving it, and the person who earned a skill AND an income making it.
It doesn’t get better than this, I think.
I look around the sea of people and suddenly see a familiar face. Olwethu is only smiles and joy as I walk over to greet and quickly catch up with h…
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Jamie-Lee

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#MandelaMonth - The Power of Education In 2015, Jamie-Lee’s father passed away, and she was struggling to juggle primary school while taking care of her two younger sisters. She and another friend heard about School of Hope and immediately ran to enrol. Jamie-Lee knew that if she didn’t jump on this opportunity, there may not be another one. After arriving at the school and speaking with the principal, she applied, and eventually enrolled at School of Hope.
In 2015, she began dating a gangster. While there were aspects of her life that had fallen into place, with his questionable values and morals, her partner began derailing her life. Jamie-Lee eventually dropped out of school and moved in with her boyfriend. After taking the fall for an illegal act her boyfriend performed,  she was arrested and spent a month in prison. Once she completed her sentence, Jamie-Lee knew she had to get her life back on track, as there was a better path somewhere out there for her. Jamie-Lee moved back in…
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