Mmapula Tladi-Small (WFTISA chair), Stella Creasy (MP), Neil Gerrard, Cllr Saima Mahmud and Cllr Ahsan Khan

Mmapula Tladi-Small, chair of Waltham Forest Thuso in South Africa, gives an update on progress.

Gerard Omasta-Milsom gives a history of WFTISA

Makola and Elijah demonstrating the gumboot dancing they learnt on an exchange visit to Vosloorus in 2000 – and people joining in!

Finally, some circle dancing, around a potted fig plant!

Defied Heavy Rain to Advance Education
On 17th July 2011 people dedicated to “Making Poverty History through Education” braved heavy rain fall to attend Waltham Forests Thuso in South Africa (WFTISA)’s annual fundraising garden party, at the home of Gerard and Naima Omasta-Milsom in Walthamstow. At one stage the loud sound of rain falling on the roof of gazebos drowned the speeches being delivered through microphones. However, guests enjoyed a sumptuous lunch provided by the trustees and supporters. Between rain showers, they took part in gumboot dancing and circle dancing, following demonstrations.
Stella Creasy MP Neil Gerard, former MP, and Waltham Forest Councillors Saima Mahmud, Mark Rusling and Ahsan Khan came to support the fundraising.
The event raised just over a thousand pounds. All the money raised will go to the food program at Thuto Lesedi Secondary School in South Africa. The program provides lunch at school and food packs to take home. About 500 youngsters benefit. The head teacher’s observation is that having food has improved students’ alertness and performance in class.WFTISA and its supporters share the view that “A Hungry Child Cannot Learn”

37 Grosvenor Park Road, Walthamstow, London E17 9PD

(between Hoe Street and Pembroke Road – see map below)

Parking in the area is free on Sundays.
The fundraising garden party is to support young people, many of them AIDS orphans, at Thuto Lesedi Secondary School in South Africa with a much needed feeding programme.

WE DESPERATELY NEED YOUR HELP TO DO THIS.

LUNCH: a wide selection of delicious home-cooked dishes including vegetarian, cakes and fruit
DONATIONS
Adults: £8 includes 1 free glass of wine/beer/fruit juice (add’l glasses £1, fruit juice 50p)
Children: £2.50
Under 5’s: Free
Children’s soft drinks free

UPDATE: 2.30pm Presentation on project progress to date

ENTERTAINMENT: 3.30pm

RAFFLE: 4pm raffle will be drawn

FOR SALE: plants, jams, cards and South African jewellery

AZWIKUNDI: We are also now supporting a women’s AIDS co-op in South Africa by sending parcels of children’s and young adult’s lightweight clothes, books, toys and soaps. We welcome donations of the above on the 17th.

RSVP to Felicity 020 8520 8816 or Tania 020 8520 3693

Parking: free in the area on Sundays

Trains: to Walthamstow Central Station

Buses:48, 20, 97, 257, W15, W12, W19

Education
In 1995 ACTSAWF setup a sponsorship program paying school fees and buying essential books for two orphans at Thuto Lesedi Secondary school. One went on to train as an engineer and the other was accepted to train as an pilot. In 2010 the number of sponsored pupils had reached 50.
In 1996 the organisation started sending schools in Vosloorus books to help them develop libraries. This work is being continued by WFTISA, ACTSAWF’S successor. Books are sent books through the “Book and 10pence” project run by Community H.E.A.R.T.
From 1995 to 1999 ACTSA Waltham Forest(ACTSAWF) contributed to the funding of community projects providing adult literacy classes and developing basic computing skills. WAFTISA’s supports pupils from the second year at secondary school, (year 9) to year 12, the final year (matriculation).

Food
During a visit to the school in 2005 discussions with sponsored pupils revealed some of them had no food. That year a food program was initiated with a contribution of one thousand pounds to provide lunch.
By 2010 WFTISA had extended the food program to include food packs to provide food at home. Over 500 children were benefitting from the food scheme. The head teacher, Mrs Tlhakanelo, commented that the effect was visible in how alert and engaged the pupils were in class. That confirms WFTISA’s belief that “a hungry child cannot learn”.
Thuto Lesedi Secondary school has benefited from the support WFTISA provides in many ways. The teachers are motivated by the help their learners receive. They no longer have to worry about hungry children and devise means of feeding them. They can concentrate on teaching.

Sponsorships
WFTISA’S involvement, and the high Matriculation examination passes, has also encouraged other sponsors to
support the school. In our summer 2010 news letter we mentioned some of the sponsorships viz: annual sponsorship of R400,000.00 over 5 years for the school; two newly built laboratories, one for maths and the other for science, both fully equipped with computers; an offer of  scholarships to study engineering.

In March 2011 the school received a minibus from SMD, a company in South Africa. The vehicle will be used to transport teams to games and anywhere else small school groups need to go. The Chair of WFTISA, Mmapula Small was invited to the handover event.Thank You
The sponsorships received through WFTISA means that children at Thuto Lesedi do not have to worry about fees and the cost of essential books. The food program ensured that they are no longer hungry all the time. and so they can learn. We at Waltham Forest Thuso in South Africa thank all sponsors and supporters who have made all this achievable.

We do believe that with your continuing support we will “ Make Poverty History Through Education”.
We thank Gerald, Naima and Adam for welcoming guests to their home for the Garden Party, on 7th June 2010. The event raised £1156.65 for the food project.
Over 500 orphans and other poor children benefit from the food program. In a school of nearly 2000 pupils this still does not provide for all those who could benefit from just a little more food in their day

HIV/AIDS
In order to reach more children, WFTISA is helping a project for women who are HIV positive or living in families with HIV/AIDS, “Azwikundi Women’s Health and Training” a Venda word for “it is possible”. As volunteers, these very poor women provide home care for sick people with AIDS in their community. Sadly some of the grandparents who care for orphans have developed dementia. The women’s group has developed a support group for them.

We help Azwikindi raise funds by buying their handicraft and selling it in the U.K.
During our trip to South Africa in April 2011, chair of WFTISA, Mmapula, was invited to a gathering where clothes donated by the organization were being distributed among needy children.

The local press were invited to cover the day and published an excellent write up and pictures of the event.

Some of the patients produce hand-crafted jewellery for fundraising purposes and our Chair Mmapula Tladi-Small has brought back a selection for us to sell on our stall and at the Garden Party on 17th July.

Above is a photo of some of the staff and also the children with parcels that they received.

As a result of the school’s outstanding academic performances last year a top performing South African car sales company, SMD, has given a minibus to the school. The company will handle upkeep and repairs of the minibus.

We are told SMD were also impressed with the connection the school has in the UK with our charity “Thuso in South Africa” (having seen our website) and the school insists that Thuso has played a large role in helping students to achieve such good results with our fee sponsorships of 50 learners and contributions to the lunchtime feeding scheme.

In 2009 we saw the school we support achieve many successes in winning competitions for sponsorship. Thuto Lesedi Secondary school also achieved the best grade 12 (Matriculation) results in South Africa. Nine pupils sponsored through WFTISA were among those who passed the final examination. Joseph Ngwenya won a  sponsorship, paying fees and a maintenance grant to study Engineering.

The support they received meant that they did not have to worry about fees and the cost of essential books. The food program WFTISA supports ensured that they were no longer hungry all the time. They could learn.

Sponsorships

The School received three sponsors in 2010 for grade 12 performance in 2009. The first one is Peermont Global that will be sponsoring the school for 5 years, giving R400,000 per year. The second sponsor is SAVCIO who built two laboratories, one for Maths and one for Science. Both centres will be fully equipped with computers, so at last, pupils will have opportunity to become computer literate.  This company will also award scholarships for best pupils who want to study engineering.

The school has also been given 2 Teacher “Ambassadors” to help pupils with Maths and Science. The Teach SA will also be donating mobile class rooms to alleviate the shortage of classes due to the high enrolment of learners. Standard Bank SA will be assisting with internship and scholarship for our Maths, Science and Accounting top pupils. The highest achieving Maths and Science pupils was invited to a luncheon and given an incentive of R500.00.

In 2009, we made a one-off payment of first year university fees, for Ntebaleng Maruping. WFTISA had sponsored her from year 8 through to year 12 at Thuto Lesedi Secondary School. She had not been able to get financial support for year one. She passed the end of year Business Management course examination, and was admitted to the second year, while applying for a student loan.
In a letter informing WFTISA about the schools achievement, Head teacher Mrs Zanele Tlhakanelo  Wrote  “We are doing our best as a school to ensure that our learners’ education is not compromised. Thanks to organisations like Waltham Forest Thuso in SA for believing in us as a school and assisting destitute learners although some have given already given up hope but your organisation is really making the difference.”

We at Waltham Forest Thuso in South Africa thank all sponsors and supporters who have made all this achievable. We do believe that with your continuing support we will “Make Poverty History Through Education” This year we will be sponsoring 52 pupils.

We thank Gerald, Naima and Adam for welcoming guests to their home for the Garden Party. On 7 June the event raised £1156.65 for the food project.

Food

In 2009 the money we raised helped to increase the number of pupils getting lunch at school from 220 to nearly 300. The number of those receiving food parcels to take home for evenings, weekends and school holidays also increased. In a school of nearly 2000 pupils this still does not provide for all those who could benefit from just a little more food in their day. In a project developed in partnership with the local community, the school has started growing vegetables. These supplement meals provided in school and in the homes of poor participating community members.

Book and 10 pence

Our support for Community H.E.A.R.T’s “Book and 10pence” appeal continues. In 2009 WFTISA collected 3,849 books for the project. Community H.E.A.R.T sends books to historically deprived schools, with no libraries, in South Africa.

The kind of books sent is fiction and non-fiction. The objective of the campaign is to promote an environment where children and young people enjoy reading.

Recreation

The school is currently looking for a donor or sponsor to help in developing recreational facilities.

Thuso will be running a stall selling lovely new plants at extremely competitive prices (and some bric a brac) on the Arcade site opposite Walthamstow Town Square on the following dates: