Pump Installations Are Complete!

A big thank you to our donors who made it possible for us to drill at Morei Primary School and Saile Primary School. 

We are excited to announce that we had successful drillings at both schools and that the jojo tanks and pumps have been installed. Trygive, our Permaculture Educator is working with students and staff at both schools to help design and create permaculture gardens. Soon the schools will be harvesting fresh fruits and vegetables from their own gardens. We are so happy to welcome these schools into the ASoH family and work with them to strengthen and grow their schools. 

Stay tuned for more updates on these schools!

Australia’s Simunye Group Was Hard At Work

This September we were very excited to welcome Huntingtower School’s Simunye Group to Acornhoek, South Africa. The group consisted of 25 dedicated high school students and their club leader’s and chaperones. We loved these students’ enthusiasm and they worked very hard to transform Tskalani Creche. Simunye came to Tskalani Creche to paint their classroom and offices, paint a mural in the classroom, start a permaculture garden, and create a safer play environment for the young learners. They also funded the construction of new concrete flooring for the school so that students are no longer learning on dirt floors. The creche looks beautiful and the staff are thrilled to be teaching in their new and improved classroom. 

The students from Simunye also helped fund and create an outdoor classroom for Trygive’s Community Garden which will be used by kids in the community who need a place to work and get help on their homework after school. The community is extremely excited about this project and kids are excited to get their school work done at the garden. Trygive and Leanette hosted a permaculture workshop for Simunye so that they can learn hands on about inexpensive alternatives to permaculture techniques such as circle and tower gardens.

Emily Visited The ASoH South Africa Team

Our Grants & Special Projects Director, Emily Cupo visited South Africa and introduced our new program, Strong Girls’ Club to our partner school, Ntsoelemolodi Primary School and their community. Our Girls’ Club is adapted from WomenStrong International’s ‘Strong Girls Make Strong Women’ program. With this program we were able to find key lessons and activities that would best fit schools in rural South Africa and that would address the needs of young women in the area. We are excited to have Ntsoelemolodi Primary School pilot the program as they are a smaller school with very attentive and passionate staff.

When Emily visited the school she was overwhelmed by the warm welcome she received and she was extremely impressed with how organized the meeting was. The meeting included school officials, girls in the club, parents, school board members, and pastors from the community. A young student, Jada, introduced the speakers and shared with us what impact A Spring of Hope has had on their school. The young women participating in the club this year are in grade 4. Emily and Trygive had the opportunity  to talk to everyone at the meeting about the importance of the program and our goals for the future. 

Our Goals For The Program:

1. Create a club for young girls to come together to discuss topics that affect them in their daily life but may not be addressed in school curriculum
2. Strengthen girls’ confidence
3. Have girls feel comfortable enough to come to their mentor for guidance
4. Help girls set goals and encourage taking leadership roles in school and in their community
5. Have the community support the program and become advocates for girls
6. Provide girls with resources they need to feel comfortable and confident everyday at school

Learn more about out Strong Girls Make Strong Women program here.