It’s winter in the US and summer in South Africa!

Thank you for continuing to support A Spring of Hope and our mission to bring clean drinking water, sustainable sanitation solutions, and permaculture gardens to schools and communities in rural South Africa.

Our team is staying safe and continuing to work at our Permaculture Centre and community gardens while practicing social distancing and wearing masks. Schools were closed for the summer and school reopenings were postponed till February 15. As schools open we will be visiting our partner schools and working to help them get their gardens ready for the new school year.

We continue to grow and so does our impact!

Introducing Mina Cup!!

We have teamed up with MINA Foundation to provide greater support to female learners at our partner schools. MINA is a menstrual hygiene cup that was created by three women with the mission to keep more young girls in school, change their lives and save the planet by creating affordable period solutions! MINA has had great success introducing the cups to girls in poor villages in South Africa as they are easy to clean and help families save money by not buying pads and tampons. MINA provides nonprofits like ours with a comprehensive plan for distributing the cups to girls in rural schools. Three young women, Pheladi, Patronella, and Adore, have volunteered to be our Mina Cup Mentors! After completing training from Mina’s team, our mentors are ready to plan their first workshop. We are planning to distribute cups to our Girls’ Club members at Ntsoelemolodi Primary School and their neighboring high school. Our mentors will be hosting a workshop to teach the female learners about the cups as well as discuss puberty, women’s health, and period taboos.

We are excited for this program and we can not wait to help girls be more comfortable and confident in school especially during their periods!

Pheladi
“As a mentor, I look forward to sharing the good news about Mina, and introducing it to the girls in my community. Mina will ease the situation of the girls from disadvantaged families when they’re on their periods, because they won’t have to use tissues, newspapers or any other things that might put their health at risk.”

Patronella
“I am ready to empower the millions of underprivileged girls in the world with Mina, so that they can continue their education without interruption and to give them back their power.”

Adore
“With Mina I’m looking forward to making girls relieved about how they’ll not spend any more money buying pads and tampons but will only buy Mina cups once every 5 years or so. Mina cups will help girls in my communities to be confident as they’ll not be worrying about staining their clothes with periods and it will save them a lot of money.”

Looking Forward

This year we are excited to focus on ramping up our sanitation efforts. Last year we partnered with Rand Water Foundation to install Enviro Loo toilets at five schools in rural South Africa, including at our partner school Nduma Primary School. Over the years we have installed Enviro Loo toilets and hand washing basins to 22 schools and 2 community gardens/centers. We are looking to install toilets and hand washing basins at more of our partner schools which will ensure that schools have sustainable toilet facilities that will keep students safe and healthy throughout the school day.

We also working to introduce programs at our Permaculture Centre, including Junior Achievement’s Youth Enterprise Development courses, cooking classes, and community permaculture classes.

With your help we can continue our WASH+ projects, grow our organization, and introduce new programs at our partner schools and Permaculture Centre.

Will you consider making a donation this month to help us with our 2021 goals?