What a privilege to be part of what God has planned for the DreamGirls of the Riebeek Valley during the unprecedented moment-in-time, called: 2020!!
We started the year with welcoming our 27 ‘farmgirls’ and their six mentors back with a fun evening of creating their Vision 2020/Dream boards. The girls could exchange their 2019 school rapports for a “diamond” pen, which tied in with our new logo and slogan. We hoped to track their progress at school in this way.
February’s Girlsclub welcomed the director of Sinethamba Malmesbury, Heinelize. Sinethemba reminded the girls of their value and connected extraordinarily with their hearts. Michelle Porter added to the theme of value in March. She presented a painting workshop, where the girls were introduced to a new skill and went home with a self-designed rose-painting. While we were creating, Michelle talked about our uniqueness, individuality and the Creator’s part in our design of ‘being me’.
Two of our 2019 graduated Dreamgirls entered further education, and after their 8-week course at the Waymakers Training Facility in Wellington, they received certificates in hospitality and elderly-care respectively. Both of them found employment locally, and this is a huge feat for the Foundation!!
We did not meet up with the girls or mentors for a few months but kept in touch with the mentor to evaluate our girls’ mental and educational circumstances. All our girls were safe, and well-looked-after by the various owners of the farms where they live.
We celebrated meeting again in August, with a care pack for each girl, lovingly put together by a growing team of volunteers. The Dream-team are local ladies, who want to be agents of change and see a change in our girls’ lives and hearts. We are so thankful for every helping hand that God is collecting to surround these precious young lives. In the light of venue specifications during the restrictions, we were blessed by the local hotel. They agreed for us to use their garden as an interim venue. It is such a joy to see how the whole community supports the Dream Again Foundation to operate still and bring life, love and hope into lives, regardless of circumstances.
For the last few clubs of the year, we invited local artists to introduce the girls to the Stone Circle (landscape art) project in Riebeek Kasteel. We had a speaker help the girls understand what it is like to live with Parkinson’s disease and a sugar/cake-artist to help us all creating Christmas-cupcakes for the whole family at home!
All glory to God for gathering faithful sponsors around the Foundation; raising a team of dedicated volunteers and creating opportunities to grow, learn and develop – even during a world that is not always as we expected it to be.
More than ever, we are convinced that God loves these girls, and they are indeed more worthy than rubies!!
2020 was a good year for the Dream Again Foundation, and we are looking forward.
Festive Christmas worshop
Instructions on the Stone Circle project
Local Artist Kayla explaining how the circles were made