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June 2022 newsletter
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“I am a leader because I care about others!” - Toluwani, 10 years old, grade 5 learner
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Celebrations at the project
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Our Observatory Girls’ Primary School campus got creative to celebrate this special day! Our grade 3s made skirts using Mealie meal bags, created instruments out of bottles filled with beans, and sang and danced while other learners played drums.
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We were also invited by our partner Judo For Peace to celebrate World Refugee Day with them. Several communities were represented and many activities were organised. Our children performed a choreography they had prepared for the occasion and recited poetry.
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On our Holy Family College campus, the children delighted their parents and teachers with an art festival to celebrate this day. One of our teachers opened the event with a reflection around who refugees are. The rest of the programme was a combination of dancing on songs from the children’s countries of origin, singing, rapping and poetry. Our parents and teachers were there to cheer on our talented learners. The children had also made some artwork for the event, which was displayed in the room for everyone to enjoy. Thanks to our volunteers and teachers for organising such a lovely celebration.
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On the 6th of June, we celebrated Marcellin Champagnat, the founder of the Marist Brothers, at our Marist host school Sacred Heart College. Our children joined the College’s learners and staff for the Mass that was organised in his honour. Our student leaders sang and recited a prayer. It was heartwarming to be able to celebrate this all together again, after two years of celebrating it online due to COVID.
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School outings
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For Youth Month, our grade 5 and 6 learners visited the Hector Pieterson Museum where they found out more about the racial laws and regulations in place during the Apartheid era. They also learnt about the youth movement that protested against the introduction of Afrikaans as the medium of instruction in black schools.
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This visit served as a reminder that people fought for the freedom and rights that the youth have today, and that June 16 isn’t just a public holiday. It is a day to honour those who opted for change, which inspired our learners to be actors of change themselves.
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Our grade 4 learners made a trip to Sci-Bono Discovery Centre where they engaged with technology education through learning about electricity, lighting and construction. They also watched a show on chemicals and their reactions. It's always good to learn outside the classroom.
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Our grade 2s and 3s loved their outing to the National Children’s Theatre where they watched a musical show called “Under the Baobab Tree”. The show was about a group of children who find an old suitcase under a baobab tree and have to work together to uncover the treasures found in it.
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The lessons of the show were the importance of values, friendship, ubuntu and pride in the South African culture and heritage.
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Soccer game
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Soccer is always a good social occasion! On the 24th of June, our learners played a friendly match with the Sacred Heart College primary school soccer team. It was great to play with them. We hope to get together again soon!
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The class monitors from our three campuses went to Constantia Rus in the Free State province for a leadership training camp on the 4th of June. The camp organised activities that enhanced team building, communication skills, creativity and leadership skills. The purpose of this camp was to equip our student leaders with the necessary skills to lead their peers throughout the rest of the year.
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"I have learnt that you cannot be a leader without followers." – Happiness, grade 6 class monitor.
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Once again, the project benefited from the generosity of the Sacred Heart College community. A parent from the main school very kindly collected funds among his relatives which were used to buy food items for our families (e.g. rice, maize and pasta). The gifts were divided between our 100 families on this campus.
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On the 7th, we also received more donations from ForAfrika. They donated to us six more bags of 25kg of porridge each which were distributed to all our campuses. We are really grateful for the renewed donation. A big shout out to Professor Juliet for her support.
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This month, we had two important events to celebrate with our alumni: Youth Day and World Refugee Day. Because June holds a turning point in South African history, our volunteers talked to our alumni about the events that happened during the 1976 Soweto uprising, and about the youths who fought and died for change in South Africa.
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They also discussed the courage, strength and determination of refugee families who are forced to flee their homes under threats of persecution, conflict, and violence. After the discussion was a creativity session during which they either wrote, drew or painted something around the theme ‘’Being a refugee in South Africa’’.
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Graduation ceremony for our parents
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Congratulations to our group of parents for completing an English course with our partner the Turquoise Harmony Institute! This journey started in February with weekly lessons. It was not easy, but they did it! Thank you to our partner for offering our parents such a great opportunity which will support their integration in the country.
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France 24 visited the project this month. They filmed our activities and interviewed our staff and one of our learners to understand the challenges refugees and migrants face in the country, and how Three2Six supports them. Watch the report here and here.
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To celebrate Youth Month, the project teamed up with Sophiatown Community Psychological Services, Regional Psychosocial Support Initiative (REPSSI), the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR), Future Families and June 16 Youth Development Foundation, to host a dialogue with each organisation's youth.
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Some of our Three2Six alumni joined the conversation around tolerance along with other refugee and migrant young adults, and South African youth. It was a lively discussion which explored the concept of tolerance and looked at how youth can have a role in strengthening peace and harmony in society. The youth all contributed to an action plan for a way forward from this event. Stay tuned for more.
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After six years of dedicated work, our fundraising officer, Nthabiseng, has left Three2Six to take up a very exciting position at the Ford Foundation. We are so thankful for all the work she has accomplished and that allowed us to keep the project going all these years. We are sad to see her go but are delighted for her as she continues to grow professionally. Best wishes to her, she will be dearly missed.
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Our Marist volunteer Charmaine left the project this month to pursue her studies in another province of South Africa. Thank you for the support provided to our team and children over the last five months. All the best with her studies!
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Our June edition will be out soon. Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to not miss out! Find link below.
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Each donation counts and helps us make a valuable change in the lives of our learners
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