Meet our little ones in 2015!

First things first: Meet our little ones! They just seem to get more gorgeous every year. We have 57 children registered this year, and we are very excited about what 2015 has in store for Graceland. 

 

The first week of school was filled with buckets and buckets of tears. However, by the second week of school, it was like the tears never happened. The reason for the quick adjustment to the school is still to be determined. Are the children becoming more adaptable or are the teachers just getting better at this? I think only three days of crying is our new record.

 

 

Congratulations to Elizabeth Solomons (4-5 year olds teacher) and Rosaline Fortuin (2-3 year olds teacher)! On 5 December 2014, Elizabeth graduated from her Level 5 Course and Rosaline graduated from her Level 4 Course, both in Early Childhood Development. We were told by the facilitator that the teachers from Graceland are her best students. Well done on your hard work! Graceland is proud to have you. As we equip ourselves, we are able to better understand the development of our children and to help our children at their level.

L-R: Rosaline Fortuin and Elizabeth Solomons

This year we are hoping to add an additional classroom to Graceland Pre-school. At the moment we have 3 classes, divided into the different age groups. A 2-3 year olds classroom, a 3-4 year olds classroom and a 4-5 year olds classroom. In order to achieve our goal this year we will need a new storage space. We are already getting a teacher ready to take the younger age group of 1-2 year olds, thanks to the Ulrike Merkel Trust. 

William Arthur Ward said,“Do more than belong: participate. Do more than care: help. Do more than believe: practice. Do more than be fair: be kind. Do more than forgive: forget. Do more than dream: work.” 

May this new year challenge you to make a difference in the world around you!

October News!

Market  Day 2013!

Meet Rosaline Fortuin (33), a teacher at Graceland Pre-primary. She started working for our preschool in 2006 as a volunteer, helping out by preparing lunch for our little ones. When another teacher was needed at Graceland we didn’t have to look very far. Her good attitude, hard work, faithfulness to Graceland and her love for children made her a good candidate. Rosaline has since completed a Level 4 course in Early Childhood Development (ECD) to qualify her as a preschool practitioner. She loves her work now more than ever. She enjoyed Market Day and wrote the following:

Our Market Day on the 3^rd of October 2013 was held at Graceland. What a successful and fun-filled day it was. The event started at 3 o’clock but we had parents queuing to buy coupons from Samantha (our administrator) long before. Excitement was in the air as the bustling began.

 

This year we sold second- hand clothes, jewellery and vegetables, played dominoes, sang karaoke, took scooter rides, played a fishing game and a bowling game and entertained the children on a jumping castle. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed the karaoke. Elizabeth and two volunteers (Fatimah and Nicole) sold chips, sweets, cool drinks, delicious curry and cupcakes. Our principal Simone was able to go around and make sure everything was going well, which it was because everything was well organised.

Elizabeth made her special homemade ginger beer and it was sold out within minutes. My job on the day was selling jewellery and I was assisted by volunteers made up of parents and friends.  The lamb stew and chicken curry, made by Mrs. Ruest (farm owner) and Mrs. Swart (Devon Valley Farm Owners Administration) was fantastic.

If there had to be a highlight for the day, the children would probably choose the scooter ride. They enjoyed every moment of it and were willing to stand in a long queue to wait their turn. It was very a busy day and everyone who volunteered was amazing.  

Graceland raised R6280, 100% profit!  With this said, we would like to thank every farm owner who donated to us, especially Mrs Ruest and Gillian Swart. We would also like to thank Scoot Café for generously giving of their time and the use of a scooter at no cost and Nedbank for donating cupcakes and hosting the fishing game. Finally, thank you to the parents, staff and all the volunteers who supported and assisted us on the day.  

 

Each and every one who gave in kind or of their time or came to enjoy a day with their children or friends made the event a success. Our Market Day created an opportunity for unity within the Devon Valley community. We found ourselves all working towards one goal. A goal that is focused on ensuring that Graceland Pre-primary School continues to bring hope to the vulnerable child of the Devon Valley through education.

 

The World Race comes to Graceland

Graceland's exposure is growing exponentially. This week we hosted 7 girls from The World Race as potential ambassadors and partners with the Thembalitsha Foundation. Excited to see what this connection will bring.

Meet Sannie

Photo courtesy Krissy Clark

This is Sannie.  She is a very active and loving 5-year-old who attends our preschool.  I love how Graceland offers education to children like her that would otherwise be left alone at home or on the street.

Sannie’s great grandfather cares for her because her mother left her after her father was murdered.  If it weren’t for Graceland, she would spend most of her days on the streets with other children of the vineyard workers.

The teachers at Graceland represent the type of mother figure Sannie needs at this time in her life.  And although they cannot replace her mother, they can dote on her, give her some of the affection that she so desperately craves, and teach her that she is valued and valuable, in addition to many life skills that will be necessary in the years to come.

Many of the children at Graceland are affected by fetal alcohol syndrome because of parents that are slave to alcoholism.  Although it is an illegal practice here in the Cape Winelands, many of the workers’ wages are still paid in wine.  As you can imagine, this just feeds the cycle of alcoholism, unemployment, and lack of education.  Graceland offers many of these children a safe place to learn, be fed, get a head start on an education, and adopt good habits, positive self-image, and important life skills.

I was able to spend a few hours at Graceland the other day and Sannie made my day!  She was so affectionate, sweet, and joyful and I thoroughly enjoyed those few hours.  Although I don’t fully understand what her home situation is, I do know that she is cared for, fed, and loved by the teachers at her school.  And I know that she will remember her time at Graceland with fondness, and as a result of her time here, she will have a better chance at success in her life.

April News

Strike-a-Pose!

On 15 March 2013, Thembalitsha Education held its annual High Tea at the Devon Valley Hotel to raise awareness for the important work done by Graceland Preschool. The theme was fashion so everyone came dressed to impress, each woman displaying unique style, creativity and elegance.

We were blessed with light rain which forced the event inside one of the hotel’s conference rooms. This did not take away from the fun we had and in fact created a very cozy and intimate atmosphere that complemented the soothing music performed by Jenny Ah Chong, classically trained musician who had us captivated by the sound of her angelic voice.

The food was beautifully presented, almost too good-looking to eat. We are so grateful to the Devon Valley Hotel for their generosity as all the proceeds from the event went to Graceland. Graceland and the Devon Valley Hotel have a remarkable relationship. Some of the hotel staff actually send their children to Graceland Preschool so the hotel, in turn, are very supportive.

Our children will have breakfast for two months thanks to everyone who brought milk and oats to the Tea as a donation to Graceland Preschool. We also received clothes from designer Jaques Nhau for the children who modeled side by side with supermodels, Charné King and three of her fellow Miss SA finalists.

Everyone left inspired by what Graceland Preschool is doing in the community. If we work alone, we work in vain but if we work together we can make a difference as a community by ensuring that children are being taken care of and developed when they are in the most vulnerable stage of their lives.

A big ‘THANK YOU’ to all who supported the event!

December News

 Our Market day was a great success. It was supported by the whole farming community For example, family, friends, farm owners, community workers, local businesses and people living in the community. We raised R3000 while spending only R100. We are so grateful for the support from the Farm owners and local businesses.  Your generosity is making a difference.

The support from the community continued at our Graduation and Concert. We had about 180 people present. This was an exciting time for Graceland but also a sad time as we are now saying goodbye to our 4-5 year old class. They are leaving Graceland to go to Grade R.  We wish them all the best and pray that God would guide and protect them on their new journey. We would like to thank Devon Valley Hotel for providing us with eats for the evening, Devon Valley Primary for providing us with sound, chair and tables and also Mr. & Mrs. Ruest for putting up the curtain railing.  We really appreciate you.

At our last session for the year of the 14 – week course that we are currently busy with, presented by Bonita Daniels from Bronne Sentrum; Graceland was declared the pre-school that implemented the programme the best amongst its peers. We are excited to be a part of the learning programme and can already see the positive difference it has made in the children’s learning. Well done Graceland teacher’s for your hard work.

It’s Christmas time again and our children have been blessed to a part of the Operation Shoebox project. It’s been amazing how people want to give to Graceland, to the point where Graceland is blessing another school that doesn’t have any gifts. A BIG, thank you, to Tracy English for working with Tokai His people to make sure that our children have gifts for Christmas.

2012 has been a year of transition for Graceland.   A teacher, Angeline De Jager, left because she feels that her season of working with children is over. The principal of Graceland Elizabeth Solomons stepped down from her position as principal after 7 years of being principal, she feels happier as a teacher and Graceland is happy to announce that she is still with us as Head - Teacher. We have a new principal at Graceland, Simoné Van Der Berg.  After being at Graceland for 6 months, she has settled in nicely and is very happy to be a part of the Graceland team.

After our Graduation and concert the Head of the Farmers Association Administration team can’t stop talking about the work Graceland is doing in the community.  This is opening doors for Graceland and creating new opportunities for relationships and partnerships.  It has been amazing to see how Graceland fits into the Greater community of Devon Valley.  We are very excited about 2013 and can’t wait for the new challenges, adventures and friendships it will bring.

As we say goodbye to 2012 we thank every person who supported Graceland, whether, in funds, kind or time.  Every little gesture of kindness towards Graceland is appreciated.  Thank you for a great year!  Till next year, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

July News

This month a little boy, Ethan, from Jamestown invited Graceland to celebrate his first birthday with him. The children delighted him with songs and joined him in celebrating his birthday and he surprised them all with gifts.  The children loved it and it was such a blessing for them on his birthday.

Twenty children of Graceland were also invited to Azalea-Hof old age home to celebrate Nelson Mandela’s birthday on the 18th July.  They shared a meal of soup and rolls with the elderly and surprised them with song to finish off the day.  It was amazing to see the reaction of what a child’s singing could do to the elderly of Azalea-Hof old age home.   While they were at Azalea-Hof old age home the rest of the school was blessed with hotdogs by Distell.

It has been a good start to a new term and new challenges as Graceland has recently started a new curriculum.  We have a new teacher on board who is also standing in as acting principal, to assist Elizabeth during this time, as she is taking a break from her principal duties. Simone Van Der Berg has been a great addition to our Graceland family.

We thank God for his continuous hand of blessing on Graceland.  We would also like to thank everyone for keeping Graceland in their prayers as well as contributing to the success of our Pre-School.  May God bless each one of you.

May News

A team from the USA, lead by Krissy from Thembalitsha, visited the school for three days (23-25 April). Lindsay, Brian and Heather were a tremendous support to the Graceland staff. Their programme consisted of spending the morning with the children singing songs, doing fun crafts and playing games. Something very special was when Brian (USA) shared his message with the children in English and Renette (Every Nation's team leader at Graceland) translated his message into Afrikaans so that the children would understand. Afternoons were spent assisting Leon in varnishing the veranda’s wooden beams. Although their time with us was short, their impact was significant. Their love for Jesus and care for the children and staff of Graceland displayed how much Jesus cares for his children, all across the nations.

 The team of students from Every Nation Church in Stellenbosch, who visit Graceland on a weekly basis, have spent the past few Wednesdays reinforcing the theme of colours with the children. They taught the children that the rainbow is in the sky to show that God's promises are true... in other words, that Jesus loves us all. Using different colours of fruit they also taught the children about the 9 fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). The children listened well and could name the different colours, as they had been taught by their teachers.

One of our lovely teachers, Angeline, is leaving and her farewell at the Devon Valley Hotel was a time to celebrate the good times that had passed at Graceland and remind each other of God's good plans for us as individuals, but for the community of Devon Valley as a whole. We thank Angeline for her commitment to Graceland over the past four years and wish her all the best for the opportunities which await her.

 Elizabeth and Jeanine visited a pre-school in Franschoek to get some tips and extend Graceland's network with other pre-schools. Anne Pederson is a dynamic teacher and principle, thus we were both able to learn from Anne's experience and tips. Allowing room for change always leads to growth. Graceland has grown tremendously over the past decade under Elizabeth and Thembalitsha's leadership and will continue to grow from strength to strength so that the children of Devon Valley may reap the benefits.

Thank you to everyone who was a part of Graceland's successes during the month of May. We have updated our ‘Needs List’ if you are interested in making a valuable contribution to the running of the school and the education of the precious Graceland children. Contact info@thembalitsha.oeg.za to get hold of a copy.

April News

Beshrin in his Graceland days

The fruits of our labour are truly starting to show! Last year some of the first little ones we taught graduated matric! Amongst them was Beshrin Van Niekerk. Beshrin is the eldest of four children and grew up in Devon Valley. He has fond memories of us and can remember singing ‘Father Abraham had many sons’! He told us that as he was studying it was often a battle with so many siblings and he often had to wait to do homework until late at night when everyone was asleep. But his hard work and dedication has paid off and he is now studying at Cape Town University after receiving a bursary to study IT. We are confident that a bright future is ahead of him and are thankful that we are able to offer a fantastic head start in education to children like Bershrin, whom otherwise may not have been able to attend preschool. If all the children we care for grasp hold of the opportunities in front of them, like Beshrin has done, then there is so much potential for their generation to shake the bonds of poverty and we will be reassured that we are on the right path of ‘restoring hope by developing people to a point of self-reliance’ as our mission statement declares! Exciting times!

Beshrin, a successful student!