Support a class of at-risk South African children

Dear Friend of YOUPSA,

This long pandemic period has been an especially difficult time in the lives of rural children, and many are losing hope for their future. YOUPSA's regular programmes and care is keeping children uplifted and continuously learning. We really appreciate your part in helping to make this happen!

Children thrive when they have a safe space and the time to be creative. The children can hardly believe that they have this regular opportunity to learn new and fun things. Amongst other skills, we taught them cardboard-circle-disc knitting, producing colorful arm braces and necklaces. While doing this activity, the children practiced important concepts that they don't gain experience of at their school - geometry, tying knots, cutting, counting and concentration. They were so proud to have mastered a new skill and wear their own creation.

Discussing healthy practices of body and mind is an essential part of YOUPSA's programmes. Most rural children do not receive practical education about healthy habits or hygiene, caring for themselves and the environment, neither at home nor at school. Good hygiene is one of the many lifeskills our children develop during the programmes. We all wash hands before we begin our other activities. The children all really enjoy this routine so much! We also love eating healthy food together. At home most of the rural disadvantaged children do not eat any fruits or vegetables, and they love the opportunity to try new things.

We wanted to let you know that we are making a change in focus. We have migrated away from the school programmes, for a number of reasons. The recent lockdown conditions have made it increasingly impossible to work sustainably with the school bodies. We have now decided to stop working with schools and put all our energy into running afterschool enrichment programmes. This is proving to be a much more effective way to reach and empower the children.

For this reason we will be closing the 'Support a Class of at-risk South African Children' campaign by 10 September. Please consider supporting our afterschool enrichment project called 'Life-changing Education for South African Children' on the GlobalGiving platform. The link for this project is here: https://goto.gg/50889

With much appreciation for your kind heart towards the children in South Africa and their education.

The YOUPSA Team