It has been an incredibly fast-paced and jam-packed first half of the year at the Anna Foundation. In a way, it feels like we made up for many of the opportunities we could not offer the children in the previous 2 years! This has taken admirable dedication from all of our staff members, going above and beyond what is required of them on a daily basis. I feel incredibly grateful to have this team of passionate people investing so much...
It is a well-known fact that raising and nurturing a child is a job for the entire community. As an organisation whose mission it is to support the holistic development of rural children, this principal is fittingly applicable to our work, and so we are extremely thankful to our community for their support! From winter clothing drives, to book donations, to pillows, puzzles and parenting support – our partners continue to be incredibly generous. Winter in the winelands is a trying...
The Anna Foundation’s afterschool programmes are located on various working farms throughout the Western Cape, and the majority of our learners are farm workers’ children. Having grown up on the farm, the children are accustomed to sights of the surrounding vineyards and the visitors entering the tasting rooms, but many of them have not put together the entire puzzle of what exactly is happening around them. This past term, we collaborated with our agricultural partners to organize educational farm tours...
Community work is a team effort! In the first semester of 2022, the Anna Foundation have had the incredible pleasure of welcoming a handful of students from the University of Stellenbosch on board as helpful members of our volunteer team. These willing students have happily chosen to invest their time, skills and resources into the lives of our learners in a variety of different ways. Estelle de Villiers is a post-graduate psychology student who volunteers every Tuesday afternoon by hosting an...
Mariska Goliath is a member of our scholarship programme who we met at one of our farm projects in 2010. Although Mariska was only in pre-primary at the time, we recognized a resilient twinkle in her eye despite her difficult family circumstances and lack of opportunities. Since then, we have been able to enrol and support her through 11 years of schooling at Stellenbosch Primary and Stellenbosch High School. We have been so proud to watch her grow into a...
Within this first term of 2022, there has been much exciting movement in the Anna Foundation team. In the head office, we have welcomed Marike Pieterse as our new Education Coordinator and Project Manager. With eight years of primary school teaching experience, Marike has a passion to improve, enhance and enrich the education practices in our country. Marike has brought with her a revitalising energy to our education programme that has been contagious amongst the...
Our partnership with Wonderdal is one which began in 2019 and has continued to blossom since. Wonderdal is a state-of-the-art interactive edutainment centre for children on the beautiful Hazendal Estate. The wonderful world of Wonderdal is a magical and educational experience, with the power to open a child’s mind to the worlds of science, nature and learning in a new way. Not all children have the resources to access this wonderful world of...
As part of the LEGO league arranged by On The Ball Foundation, three girls from our Arabella after school project were selected to participate in a 12-week IT course that centered on robotics and technology. On The Ball sponsored both the LEGO and iPads needed to participate, and over the duration of the course, students worked in teams to build LEGO masterpieces, using iPads to add sound and movement to their creations. The course gave our learners the opportunity to practice...
In the blink of an eye, we find ourselves mid-way through a new year. With equal amounts of pride and urgency, we want to shout from the rooftops “we are still here!” Amid rising Covid infection rates and prolonged school closures, we soldier on, educating and nurturing our children in rural and farming communities. Teaching hours at our after school centres have soared in 2021 as we help to catch up from school closures over thelast 15 months. One-to-one maths...
Reading is a way for me to expand my mind, open my eyes, and fill up my heart.Oprah Winfrey Are you looking for ways to support the Anna Foundation? Here’s an easy one! Exclusive Books are giving the gift of 70 books to 70 not for profit organisations in 2021 as part of the 70th Birthday celebrations! You can nominate the Anna Foundation by scanning the QR code in this image below or by clicking on the link and completing the...