Barre 2 Barre
provided 6 months' education and school lunches for orphaned and vulnerable children in South Africa
Barre 2 Barre and Team 4 Heartstrings raised $1,144!
This paid for:
Daily meals for 20 students
Transportation costs for volunteer teachers to conduct home visits, delivering food parcels and helping with homework
Stationery costs (exercise books, text books, pens, pencils, paper)
Internet connection fees
Barre 2 Barre and Team 4 Heartstrings feedback
“To Barre2barre studios
I take this opportunity to raise my gratitude .Your funds have a good impact towards my community.Volunteers used to visit 2 households per week because they get tired of the distance between households but now they are able to visit 4 per week each since they have travelling money.Our children were having difficult when doing their homeworks because were running shot of printer ink .Now they make copies and print at the centre.We also needed internet to help them,now volunteers can search for them whatever they need.Daily meals are served after school at the centre and food parcels are carried during homevisits unlike before where they visit empty handed.Children are now have courage to attend and they enjoy nutritious meals and activities.
Even after your funds my communities and children lives will never be the same again because when there are no funds we feel useless.
Thank you barre 2barre”
The students made posters thanking Barre2Barre for fundraising, and a volunteer teacher recorded this message for them:
Lihle's story
Kwa Shange, South Africa
In 2006, Lihle, a kind-hearted and determined woman from the tribal village of Kwa Shange in South Africa, noticed the increasing numbers of orphaned and vulnerable children in her community, as a result of death caused by sicknesses related to HIV/AIDS. The children had no education because most of their caregivers are illiterate, many had to leave school to care for siblings, while others had no birth certificates which means they can’t enter state schools at all.
Lihle decided something must be done and set a goal for herself: she wanted to offer education and nutrition to the orphaned and vulnerable children in her community, in hope of giving them the skills they need to create better futures for themselves and their families.
After completing an educational course at a skills centre, Lihle had the confidence she needed to start the Lihlithemba Noah Centre in one of the huts at her home. The centre provides children with basic life skills and early childhood development education, including reading, writing, social skills, sports and horticulture. Lihle also knows that without the correct nutrition, children cannot get the most from the education they receive. Therefore, the centre also provides daily meals to the students, supporting their learning but also helping to decrease the number of children suffering from malnutrition and disease in her community.
As the number of students increased, they outgrew the small hut and Lihle managed to secure a larger space to educate the children. With 7 volunteers now running the centre out of 2 shipping containers, 180 students are registered and receiving her essential services. Lihle’s vision to help create a positive future for as many vulnerable and orphaned children in her village as she can is happening!
However, Lihle’s centre doesn’t receive any funding. They rely on volunteers and their personal monetary contributions, as well as a small amount that Lihle makes from selling vegetables, peanut butter, handmade jewellery and composting, in order to cover their running costs.
With the number of students that the centre supports constantly growing, and the resources needed for all of her students proving costly, Lihle and her team need financial support to continue and increase their impact.
“I know that I have to work for my community because life is too short. If I have something, it may be food or education, I have to use it for others, for to die with the information and to not have spread it to others is worthless. My hope is to see our orphans get enough funding and education to go to university”- Lihle