2021 Year in Review

Welcome to 2022 – you have made it and we are thrilled to be speaking to you – our newsletter is brief and aimed at letting you know how you impact us and how we can continue growing together.

How long have we served?

We were established on the 16th of December 1996 and on 16th December 2021 we turned – 25 years old. What have we done over those years – let’s see:

Education

Dorcas Day Care Centre (Our first educational initiative)

Our education services started with Dorcas Day Care Centre in 1996. Our founder was concerned about the number of children on the streets, unsupervised and vulnerable to harm.

We run the most affordable foundation education programme for age 4 – 6 years and have students from low-income families subsidised by donors like the Hollard foundation who sponsor 15 students per year. Grade R / foundation education is not subsidised by the government.

Our classes average between 30 – 38 so in 25 years we have taught and nurtured approximately 750 learners – in a Montessori method – everything from basic hygiene to numeracy and core literacy. We provide food and clothing for those who need it.

Aftercare

When these Grade R students entered Grade 1 – many had issues adjusting and working parents needed to leave their children in a safe environment they trusted where they could get assistance with reading, homework, and assignments. The Aftercare programme was started in 2005 and assists students from Grade 1 to Grade 7 – classes range from 25 to 30 so since 2005 we have assisted 400 students in their primary school education. Our students are high performers, and many schools hold our programme in high regard due to the high calibre of students we develop.

We offer books, puzzles, crafting and a snack or meal as required, pictured are the results of a learner who has been with us since she was 4 and is now headed to Grade 7 with excellent results.

Adult Education Classes

When these Grade R students entered Grade 1 – many had issues adjusting and working parents needed to leave their children in a safe environment they trusted where they could get assistance with reading, homework, and assignments. The Aftercare programme was started in 2005 and assists students from Grade 1 to Grade 7 – classes range from 25 to 30 so since 2005 we have assisted 400 students in their primary school education.

Our students are high performers, and many schools hold our programme in high regard due to the high calibre of students we develop.

We offer books, puzzles, crafting and a snack or meal as required, pictured are the results of a learner who has been with us since she was 4 and is now headed to Grade 7 with excellent results.

We adopted the ABET classes from 2016 – on average we assist 20 – 30 students annually to attain their matric –since 2017 we have helped 100 adults become matriculated and be closer to realising their ambitions.

Food Security

    • We can not uplift individuals without assisting in their base needs – hungry and undernourished children are unable to learn and concentrate. Similarly – elderly people with insufficient nutrition are prone to lifestyle diseases.
    • Our food security encompasses caring for the environment by utilising food marked as ‘waste’ or close to expiry – this includes fresh produce three times a week.
    • We pay a subscription to the Foodbank every month and do collections on Wednesday, 2 on
      Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and one monthly bulk collection from the warehouse. Each
      week we provide mainly fresh fruit and vegetables for 30 households.
    • The bulk collection from the Foodbank which remains relatively steady – allows us to create
      packs of food for 30 households. The value of the food is R16 175.48, it makes up
      approximately 1398 meals per month and for a monthly subscription of R550.
    • We have a roster to rotate provision among different households- allowing more people to
      have access and in most cases, it is temporary especially during the pandemic as
      employment has been erratic. Over 2021 we prepared approximately 2160 food parcels.

Remembering Transitioned Helpers

Willie Abrahams

Our founder Sophie lost her older brother this year – he was a consistent volunteer over 5 years who gave our driver weekends off by assisting with picking up food over weekends and did this without us having to pay fuel – tirelessly through the seasons and all kinds of weather while still working fulltime during the week – he is sorely missed and appreciated.

Aunty Liz

Those who have volunteered in our garden or to make the premises around our offices greener – you will remember the bubbly Aunty Liz who gave us all an education on plants and loving the land. Every time we see the fruit trees, flowers or use medicinal plants we will remember her love and service.

Oom (Uncle) Jeff

Before we received our large bakkie – Uncle Jeff and his trusty blue Nissan bakkie helped with all sorts of pickups and transportation. Many times, we would be amazed at how he could strap and transport large items on the trusty vehicle and we are forever grateful to have had such positive and committed people.

Fundraising Challenges and Solutions

We are very grateful to all our stakeholders for allowing us to remain active and viable. Mid-year we were in a financial dilemma as we have not been able to use traditional means of fundraising.

We received the services – of Federico Bastiani as our key fundraiser and acting CFO. He and his wife Laurell have done remarkable work in creating new endeavours and bringing in – new assistance and donors to date.

We have updated our website and have a donate button at: https://womenofvision.co.za/

A special song was written to create awareness of the causes we serve – in turn a PayPal was setup to enable donors from all over the world to donate – the song is by the talented Michele Fariselli and available at the following link on YouTube

We have met all our 2021 financial expenditures and raised 20% of our required 2022 budget – so there is still work ahead. Special thank you to the following: Dominican Sisters, Rosebank Parish, Martindale Parish, Hollard Foundation, Ster Kinekor, Mike Leeming, Amanda Turton, Danielle Alexander, Adrian Kenny, UJ Community Engagement, Lucchini SA, il Caffe dei Gomitoli, Valsoia, DHH, Aqrate, Magnoni Foundation, De La Cuona, Doodesign, Biagio Antonacci and Chiara Turingia.

2022

Welcome to 2022 – we are excited about the work we do and dreaming of expanding in this year to new spaces and projects to empower more people through giving and receiving service.