Dear donors, friends, On January 10 th 2025 we delivered our 7 th school, this year to the Hlabizulu School in the new community of Kumahasana in the Eastern Cape that lies to the north of Amajingqi. Kumahasana is run by Chief Nosizwe, who inherited the title from her late husband, per Xhosa tradition. After seeing the work we have done in Amajingqi over the past seven years, Chief Nosizwe approached Chief Dumalisele and ITEC and requested similar support for her community.  Currently there are eight ‘schools’ being run in Kumahasana, all of which we have committed to provide with new containers, and to support ITEC in teacher training. At a recent meeting to discuss early education, more than 100 parents attended, testament to the involvement and energy among the local families. We are very excited to be involved. We will also continue to support Chief Dumalisele and the Amajingqi community, and next year will return to deliver one last school. It is possible that we will need to deliver second containers to some schools since the numbers are beginning to outgrow the space per the Department of Education policy. Our group of 12 volunteers arrived in East London on the 2 nd January, and were put straight to work. Painting, carpentry, block-making… toys and manipulatives were categorized and boxed for transport. In seven days, the container was transformed, and on the evening of the 9 th it was loaded and ready for delivery. All supplies were loaded into the trailer, and early on the 10 th we set out for Kumahasana.

August 2024

REACH! for SA January 2024 update  We are proud to announce that our sixth container was successfully delivered to the Vulandi school in Amajingqi on January 9th, 2024. With plenty of help from the wonderful volunteers from the Zoe Jelinek Foundation, we were able to take advantage of a short window of good weather to get the beautiful container murals painted (designed by Finn Jelinek, see pictures), and all the interior carpentry and painting done. After the truck got stuck delivering the container to our work site the night before we were due to begin painting, there was a lot of concern that we wouldn’t have enough time and even if we did, the roads to Amajingqi would be impassable. Fortunately, four good days of sunshine followed, allowing us to finish the murals, and to dry the roads enough so that we had little problem getting in. We were greeted by the community with much ululating, singing, and beating of drums. The Chief was there to welcome us and to voice his gratitude for our continued support and development of his community. When the container was set and levelled, the doors were opened and Shelley and her team began filling it with supplies and instructing the teachers and children of all ages curious to play with all the dress-ups and manipulatives, most of which they’d never seen before. ‘Beautiful chaos’ is how it’s best described. Children everywhere trying on Spiderman costumes, little girls playing with dolls, building blocks, doing puzzles, kicking soccer and rugby balls, riding tricycles amidst the goats and dogs, playing doctor… each and every one of them filled with a new curiosity and excitement, and the teacher who said she couldn’t sleep she was so thrilled about her new school! The following day we all drove out to the first school, delivered in 2018, and spent the morning re-painting the mural and repairing some leaks and broken windows until an afternoon thunderstorm brought our work to a premature close. Leaving the paint and some supplies for the community to finish up, we spent the rest of the day driving to the other schools, delivering supplies, inspecting their condition, and giving some money to the teachers who we learned are not being paid by the department of education. (See notes at the end) Significant maintenance work is needed on several of the other containers, and we are in negotiations with Billy (our go-to-guy who sources, converts and delivers the schools) for his crew to go out this year and grind away the rust, and to prime, paint, and caulk all the windows. We plan to spend some extra time each year re-painting the murals one school at a time. We spent a second night at Kob Inn where we were joined by the Chief for dinner, as determined as ever to help uplift his people and secure funding for his ambitious Rural Development Plan. Our group drove back to Gonubie for one last night before going our respective ways. Shelley and I would like to thank Ingrid, Monnix, and Finn Jelinek from the Zoe Jelinek Foundation for making this years’ project possible, and to all their friends and family, so generous in spirit, humor and good will. Fundraising is also well underway for the seventh school scheduled for delivery Jan ’25. If you know of anyone interested in getting involved, please direct them to our website: www.reachforsa.org Regarding the teachers: Unfortunately, we learned that the teachers are not being paid by the government, and remain at their jobs out of commitment to the children and because the job gives them some modicum of purpose and dignity (and the promise of some money from time to time) We find it unacceptable that this is happening, and are determined to help. $100/month will put food on the table for a teacher and her assistant, and their families. There are nine schools we are supporting (though we have only delivered six containers) Shelley and I will commit to one school, and are asking for eight more volunteers to commit $100/month from Feb-Dec 2024. It is tax deductible of course. If you are already donating on a monthly basis, please indicate if you wish your donation to be diverted to the teachers. Please respond to me at this email if you are willing to help, and we will set up an automatic withdrawal into REACH! account to be wired monthly. Thank you, on behalf of the teachers and their families, in advance. From the Chief, the teachers, students and community of Amajingqi, and from Shelley and I, we thank you all for your support, we couldn’t do any of this without you. It takes a village. Sincerely, Ralph and Shelley

Reach! Update November 2023 Dear donors and friends, Last month I spoke about the Rugby World Cup, and how it brings hope and inspires dreams in so many young fans and aspiring players. I know many of you, or most of you reading this are not big rugby followers. That the South African “Springboks” just won the RWC and now stand alone as the only country to have won the coveted cup for a 4th time, is really about so much more than rugby. For a country where not much is going right, politics is rife with corruption and nepotism, the infrastructure is failing, the ANC is failing to lead and uplift as promised so, so many times, we have no regular electricity supply… this victory brought hope and unity and pride like nothing else could. The scenes all around the country last Saturday brought tears to even the most cynical, the most pessimistic. It was something to behold! We at REACH! believe that it is also so much more than providing a dry, safe place to learn, so much more than providing learning materials and a play structure and supplementing the teachers’ meager salary. It is about providing fertile ground for dreaming, for feeling for the first time that there could be more to life than their parents and grandparents had; that others see that they have worth and talent and potential just like everybody else; that they are not forgotten, or destined to be hewers of wood and carriers of water for the rest of their lives. In the same way that Siya Kolisi, the Springbok captain, rose from the squalor and hardship of a township in the Eastern Cape to stand on the pinnacle of sporting achievement because someone once saw his potential and gave him hope and gave him a chance, somewhere in a container school in Amajingqi small hearts and minds are daring to see beyond life as they know it. Our plans are almost finalized for January and the Zoe Jelenik Foundation funded sixth school. The container is converted and ready for us to beautify with murals and supplies! Included are some pictures of the children during the last assessment and teacher training clinic for this year that REACH! and ACB jointly finance. Thank you for your part in this.  We are starting fundraising for our seventh school scheduled for delivery in January 2025. If you know of anyone interested in adding their support and joining our 'village', please direct them to our website: www.reachforsa.org We will keep you updated on our January trip. Thank you one and all for your ongoing support, we could not do any of this without you. Regards Ralph and Shelley

Update

Ndlelibanzi, January 2023

June 2022

January 2022 update

December 2021