Our projects have been stable and running – and we have experienced growth in beneficiaries we are reaching. Prochorus will be closed from the 2-11 July to give our project staff and management a much-needed break.

Over the last quarter, we boast of a successful Xhiliraces event – seeing both our reach and income increase. Thank you to everyone who made the day a success. We are aware that without partners, family, friends and donors – the day could’ve not been a success.

We look forward to next years event – and have exciting developments in store. If you would like to get involved with the Xhiliraces or know more – please email info@xhiliraces.com. 

We also have an exciting new development in Delft. Prochorus is proud to welcome Prochorus Delft to the team. We have had a few seed projects over the past year, and Delft is now officially a part of the Prochorus family. We are so excited to see what their competent and compassionate team of leaders have planned. Currently, they are raising funds for a building in the Delft area – on which they hope to build a creche. More information to follow.

Franschhoek | 

Leadership Training

On Saturday the 26 May 2018 the Franschhoek Youth Forum did a follow-up leadership development training, with the student council from Groendal Secondary. We had fewer students attend this time, but it was good to see the main core group who wish to follow through with this process. The group was enthusiastic and participation was great. The session focussed on servant leadership, their responsibility as leaders, the influence of social media, small group discussions, as well as two short icebreakers.

We want to thank all the Youth Forum members who committed their time to help develop the young leaders of Groendal Secondary. We would also like to thank the teachers and Principal of Groendal Secondary for the opportunity. I believe by taking hands and working together we can have a lasting impact on the lives of the youth.

Youth Day Event

The Franschhoek Youth Forum had its annual youth day event on Friday the 15 June 2016 due to the venue being booked for the Saturday. It was a cold wet winters evening and the turnout was good. We had singers, dancers, and drama groups perform and showcase their talents, and they gave it their all and did a great job. There was also two keynote speakers who really encouraged the young people and testified of their past challenging life and how that didn’t determine who they are. We also used the opportunity to share the gospel of Christ with the audience, and there were ten young people who took the stand to commit their Lives to live for the Glory of God. They were also encouraged to connect with us afterwards to get spiritual support structures around them, to assist them to grow in the process of salvation.

We would like to thank all the members for playing their role in the youth day event and a special thank you to the project team who did all the groundwork to make this event happen.

SOMERSET WEST |

Storehouse Project

The storehouse project is how Prochorus Somerset West redistributes the donations received to sister NGO’s and needy people in the Helderberg community.

Here are some of the testimonies from the last quarter:

[pextestim pex_attr_name=”” pex_attr_img=”https://prochorus.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Toni.jpg” pex_attr_occup=”” pex_attr_org=”” pex_attr_link=”” pex_attr_parallax=”disabled”]Toni Mould from Bridging Abilities received a new battery charger for ‘Angel’, her trusty electric wheelchair. Toni is dependant on ‘Angel’ for longer movement.[/pextestim]

[pextestim pex_attr_img=”https://prochorus.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/SAM.jpg” pex_attr_parallax=”disabled”]We provided Sam at the Rape Crisis Centre shop’s manager needed paint. The paint was to ‘beautify’ the centre’s garden for their clients; like says… “to put a bit more blue in there for the male clients”[/pextestim]

[pextestim pex_attr_img=”https://prochorus.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Zelna.jpg” pex_attr_parallax=”disabled”]Zelna from Kingdom Kids crèche in Sir Lowry’s Pass Village has been receiving nappies through Pick & Pay Somerset West’s fundraising efforts for her kids[/pextestim]

Books of Life:

Rani Van Wyk is a teacher and had a stirring in her heart to use her gifting and talent for teaching. At first she aims to help children, but later on, she desires to also assist adults. Her heart is to provide after-school tutoring for the kids and reading and skills development for adults.

She approached us with the vision laid on her heart, explaining the logistical constraints and challenges she faces. Prochorus Somerset West assisted by acquiring a venue in the target community, got sponsors for materials and identified and connected her with the pupils through the local church.

In February, she and a friend started with five children once a month on a Saturday morning, from 9-12 at our local church’s grounds. First utilising the Spring of Life crèche buildings and now has moved into the church building. They are four teachers now and are tutoring 10 children, with a focus on two Grade 12 pupils, helping them to get ready for their final exams.

Further, they also do play-time with the children and want to increase the frequency of classes. She ‘recruits’ her own teachers from friends and through networking. They are looking for more hands/hearts to come and help.

if you want to get involved contact gerhard.terhaar@shofaronline.org.

Hands Of Life – at Spring of Life 

The ‘Hands of Life’- project from 2016 at the Spring of Life crèche, had another fresh injection. In April this the scholars of the Bernhard-Strigel-Gymnasium (Memmingen, Germany) once again raised funds in their private capacity, to assist with structural upgrades to the crèche. We used these funds in building the much-needed toilets in a wendy house at the Spring of Life crèche. The scholars and their teachers, spent the morning of 11 April, with our crèche children and teachers. They also donated four wall panel heaters for the two crèche buildings and a new slide in the playground. They painted the bungalow and made a sign for the toilets in the local languages. And of course, they played with the kids after handing out specially packed ‘party packs’.

Everyone had a great morning, and new friendships were started, that I believe will flourish into beautiful testimonies. We are very grateful for this continuous, beautiful relationship between BSG and SoL.

STELLENBOSCH | 

Cycling Newsletter June 2018

With the change in weather and school exams, the cycling project has been quieter than usual. The kids focused more on their academic achievements and used cycling as an outlet to take their minds off of stress and other tasks they may be dealing with. It has been an amazing tool to teach them to have a balanced lifestyle by juggling different priorities in life as well as having time for relaxation. With the aim of not being in training and racing it was the ideal time to involve those that are not partaking in school.

For the past two months, we have had a new mechanic trainee Warren Jansen who is currently assisting with the project and learning necessary skills to become a mechanic. He is being taught many skills such as wheel truing, servicing bottom brackets and headsets, setting gears and basic suspension service and maintenance. We also involved four of the older boys with the preparation of our event Xhiliraces held at Oak Valley wine estate  in Grabouw. They worked long hours to help lay out the different routes for the MTB and trail running event. Through this, they learned some skills about trail building and maintenance which is a growing market in the Western Cape.

We can thus say that the main focus of the project has been about opening opportunities outside of the project and equipping our boys with more practical skills that they can use later in their lives when it is their time to move forward.

The Jonkershoek Educare Centre

It has been quite a busy term at the Jonkershoek Educare Centre during the last few months.  We learned about the history of freedom day and the children had the opportunity to express their own opinions.  We have experienced a lot of bonding between the children.  We have seen how their friendships have grown from day to day. We said goodbye to Anna; who was a volunteer from Germany. She spent 8 months on the project.  She was involved with our Early Childhood Development projects in Kayamandi and Cloetesville as well as the Jonkershoek Educare Centre.  She did weekly creative arts activities with the children and they thoroughly enjoyed it.  We will definitely miss her.

Soph-Mari and Jana have continued to coach and mentor the young ladies in the community.  They meet up with about 15 girls once a week for mentoring them through some of their challenges that they might experience.  The main focus of the group is to create a safe space for the girls to share their experiences and challenges in life.

On Youth day the Shofar Local Missions did a fun day for all the children in the community.  The children loved it and the weather was perfect for this occasion.

There have also been a lot of new volunteers that have started to give some of their time.  We are very thankful for this.  Lucille continues to do an amazing work with the maths twice a week and we can see that it will make a difference for the children in the long run.  Currently, we have about 10 volunteers on a weekly basis.

We have also received some donations-in-kind.  We are thankful for everybody that is contributing to the centre to create a safe space for the children within the community.

Playgroup project:

Siyanda and Little Builders have been very busy over the last few months.  The children are learning a lot and are having so much fun at the centres.  The teachers are doing such an incredible job to create a safe space for these vulnerable children.

Siyanda went on an outing to the Aquarium and the children loved every moment of it.  Anna; the volunteer from Germany was volunteering at Siyanda for the past 8 months and she has built some strong relationships with the children and the teachers.  She went back home a few weeks ago and we would like to thank her for her input and hard work during her time here in South Africa.

Students from Wilgenhof and Heemstede did a two-day outreach in June to Little Builders and Siyanda.  At Little Builders they painted the office and at Siyanda they installed new lights and did some creative activities with the children.

We have also received the good news that Siyanda, Jonkershoek Educare Centre and Little Builders will receive Santa Shoe Boxes again at the end of the year.  This is always a very special occasion.

DELFT | 

Delft on Main crèche:

Prochorus Delft has a dream of building a high-quality early childhood development centre for the children of the Delft community. The vision is to build a centre as a resource to the community – not only for the children who will directly benefit from the centre but also for the crèche teachers who with little to no resources are running crèches.

Currently, the land has been bought, and the plans are in. The Prochorus Delft team are working tirelessly to raise the remaining funds, and are awaiting the approval of their plans so that they can start seeing the dream become a reality.

The project still needs R 440 000 – to complete the vision. If you would like to make a donation towards the building of the crèche, please contact durbanville@shofaronline.org or donate using the reference: DelftECD

RENOVATIONS: 

Prochorus is currently making use of the Shofar Delft church office to run an aftercare for the children of Delft.

Pending the new building, the Prochorus Delft team cleaned and renovated the backyard. This was to provide the aftercare children have a larger play area, and to neaten the office grounds.

SAY SOMETHING:

Shofar Durbanville is hosting a theatre production telling the story of love and hope. The play is based on the love story of two congregation members who undertook a journey to open their hearts and fall in love.

The show is running from the 27 – 29^th of June and all proceeds will go towards building the crèche on main on Delft

For more info- visit the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/173446430007069/

Prochorus has some exciting events on its calendar for the year. The most notable being the Xhiliraces happening on the 12th of May. This is our annual fundraiser in conjunction with our sister organisation Kibwe Kids. Read more about it below.

Thank you for your continued support in our endeavours to Use our Power to Empower. We would not be able to do it without the support of donors, partners, friends and family.

FRANSCHHOEK |

Creative Writing Workshop

Some of the youth forum members had the privilege of helping to facilitate a Creative Writing Workshop, which took place at Drakenstein Correctional Facility from 5-8 February 2018. The workshop was a combined effort between the Franschhoek Youth Forum, the Foundation for Sport and Peace and Development, and two individuals Diana, and Gayriah. Diana and Gyirah both have an extensive background in creative writing. The themes of the workshop were Freedom and new beginnings, Sport and Peace, and Values and Leadership.

The workshop was a combination of inmates from the book club and grade 7 classes from different schools. Not only was it a platform to discover and showcase talent, but throughout the process, us writing as a form of expression to heal the wounds of the past. There were many deep discussions about the issues of the heart, and much hope springing forth from this process of development. It was truly a privilege to be part of such a tangible change in the lives school children and inmates alike.

Rapid Relief

On Saturday 17 February 2018, a devastating fire burnt down 32 shacks in the nearby township just outside Franschhoek, leaving about 100 people homeless. As soon as it was brought to our attention we were on standby ready to deliver rapid relief resources, which we are able to stockpile due to Franco’s financial support. The following week we handed out 36 “feed a family for a week” food bags, with 36 basins with necessary toiletries and soaps, and 36 blankets. The families were grateful to receive the help and support.

We at Prochorus would like to thank Franco for making it possible for us to respond to the disaster with necessary resources, and that we can have a constant stockpile for those who lose most of what they have through disasters. We would also like to thank Councillor Minnie Petersen for her active role in the community of Franschhoek. Her rapid response to the needs of the people and her effective communication enabled us to mobilise our resources. Finally, a special thank you to Tanya Rousseau for volunteering her time and vehicle to transport the goods.

Franschhoek Youth Forum – Helping to bridge social and racial divides

Jeremy Davids, who is the Manager of the Franschhoek Hospitality Academy, requested that the Youth Forum facilitate a dialogue workshop with the students of the Academy. The Hospitality Academy provides hospitality training and development to disadvantaged youth. The aim of the dialogue was to bridge the gap between the social constructs and racial divides that exist due to prejudices.

The dialogue took place on the 19 February. The day of an icebreaker, an in-depth discussion of opinion vs truth around various questions about race, skin colour and genetics. The session ended with a facilitated small group discussion on what it means to love your neighbour. Many of the students were challenged in their way of thinking, and all of them seemed receptive to the truth. The feedback from Jeremy was positive, saying that we achieved the goal and that the students would like us to do more workshops with them in the future.

STELLENBOSCH |

Prochorus- Jonkershoek Educare Centre

The year started with new attitudes, challenges and personalities at the centre. We were at the beginning of a new year and the children were so excited about starting in their new grades and making new friends. The grade 1’s and 8’s were so excited to tell about their new journey in new schools and we could see that they were happy. We provided all the children with pencil cases and stationery to show our support for their school year.

In March some of the girls and boys did the Cape Argus Cycle Tour in Cape Town and they really enjoyed it.  For most of them, it was their first tour.

Currently, we have about eight volunteers that assist us on a weekly basis.  It really makes a big difference when you have enough people to help the children individually.  We have one volunteer from Germany, one from the local community of Jonkershoek and a few from a residence from the University of Stellenbosch.

We started to use new numeracy activity books and it has really helped the children enormously. It gave them more insight into their work.  The children enjoy it because it is on their level and they understand it much better.

Playgroups:

Our playgroups aim to give a safe place for the most vulnerable children in the communities of Cloetesville and Kayamandi.  The projects run between 09:00 and 16:00 during the week. In Cloetesville we started with a BANG, with too many children that wanted to come to Little Builders.  We are filled to capacity with 35 children and have a waiting list.  The teachers were all very excited to start the new year.

At Siyanda in Kayamandi we currently have 21 children attending the playgroup, so we are almost at full capacity with about 4-5 spaces left to fill.  Thulisa (one of the teachers) is on maternity leave till May. Luckily, Anna (a volunteer from Germany) is there to fill her spot while she spends some very special and needed time with her newborn baby boy. We also have volunteers from the community who clean and assist with cooking during the week.  This has helped the teachers to focus on educating the children and facilitating the curriculum. Some of the themes for this year so far was  “My Body”, “I am special”, “Senses”, “Summer”, “Animals” and will end off the term with “colours” and “Easter”.

Some of the biggest challenges that the teachers face are the fact that most of the children struggle with the routine at the beginning of the year.  They have also experienced that some of these children have not been stimulated at an earlier stage, so they struggle with discipline, the activities as well as making new friends.  However, there has been notable development in these children over the past 3 months. We cook for the children and they receive breakfast when they arrive, a snack in between, lunch and then a snack again before they go home.

The playgroups will close for the school holidays and this will give the teachers time to refresh after a long first quarter.

Jonkerhoek Cycling Project

The New Year is always a great way to get a fresh start and reflect on how we can better ourselves. We have thus decided to focus on ‘’what we put in’’ with the beneficiaries on the cycling project. This focuses on knowledge of what we put in our bodies such as food and nutrition, to keep us healthy and to provide sustained energy levels. On top of physical health, mental health and positivity in form of self-reassurance and positive self-talk are also encouraged. Through this, the kids realize that we can not only feed themselves with healthy food but they can also feed themselves healthy thoughts.

The great thing about endurance sports is that one can apply these lessons in real life scenarios. It is important because it re-enforces knowledge in a fun way that can later be applied in “real world’’ incidences. We have so far participated in 2 events where these skills can be applied, the Grabouw Xterra and that Cape Town Argus Cycle Tour.

The Cape Town cycle tour is a 109km with 1200m of ascent. We had 6 Boys and 2 Girls who compete. In the first few km’s one of the boys got a bad sidewall cut. He cycled back to the start to find a replacement tire and despite his bad luck he kept his head up high and still finished the entire 109 Km. Our fastest boy finished in a time of 3 hours and 38 min and will next year aim to ride under 3 hours with an improved seeding. The most impressive were the two girls. They, age 16 and 17 years, have only have been cycling for the past year. They have shown dedication over the past few months and finished the event with no cramping and a massive smiles on their faces.

Our Project Leader Chris Marais and long-term German volunteer Daniel Manweiller competed in the 2018 ABSA Cape Epic which is considered the toughest MTB Stage race in the world and is spread over 8 days. They did the event to create awareness for the project and to inspire the kids to dream big. One of our long-term goals is to have a development team participate in the Exarro category which is exclusively for development teams. Daniel and Chris finished the race in 31 hours and 30 min and place 60^th out of 700 Teams that started.

Thank you to all our friends, family, partners and donors that have made our success in the communities in which we work possible.

50 x 1000 Campaign | 

We are one  month into our 1000 x R 50 campaign.

We currently have 40 donations, of which 19 are recurring donations of R 50 and the rest were once off. We are still in need of 981 recurring donations of R  50 to meet our R 50 000 a month target

Thank you to all those who are standing with us, and campaigned on our behalf.

We will be running the campaign until the 8th of December, and we trust that we will meet our target.

For more information about the campaign, or to find out how you can be an activist – contact Tosca Ferndale at info@prochorus.org

Follow: https://www.givengain.com/cc/1000×50/# to pledge your R 50

Xhiliraces 2018  | 

The date has been set – the second Xhiliraces will take place on the 12th of May 2018. Save the date

We will be hosting at the beautiful Oak Valley once more  – and we are expectant for what Xhiliraces 2018 will be.

To assist or donate please contact Xhiliraces@gmail.com 

Entries will open soon –  So spread the word

MANDELA DAY AT SIYANDA, KAYAMANDI| 
We celebrated Mandela day at Siyanda on the 15^th of August.

Bextrans and Bester Feed and Grain came brought lunch for the children and also donated a gas stove and non-perishable food for a few months.  They have celebrated Mandela day with us for the last 5 years.  We are thankful for their support and the children and teachers always enjoy it when people from the outside of their community come to visit their centre.

Siyanda has continued to be a place of safety within the community for vulnerable children from families who cannot afford to pay for pre-school education for their children.  We aim to create a safe, learning environment for children between the ages of 3 – 5 years to prepare them for GR R and beyond.  All three our teachers are trained in Early Childhood Development and we have a great curriculum that we implement on a daily basis.

GROENDAL PRIMARY LEADERSHIP WORKSHOP | 

Prochorus Community Development together with the Transformation Charter had the opportunity to do leadership training with the SRC’s and prefects for next year at Groendal Primary.

The opportunity came to the Youth Forum through a social worker who has subsequently joined the forum as well. The day was broken up into three parts; leadership identity, leadership characteristics and team work, and then as well as a practical aspect.
The goal was to provide a simple and easy introduction into the roles and responsibilities of leadership, and how servant leadership should look. Through the practical aspect we taught the students the importance of listening, working together and sharing in front of others.
The workshop went very well and it has opened doors for us to do similar workshops in other schools, and we are trusting that it will turn into a whole program that the Youth Forum can step into and take ownership of, involving all three schools within the community.

[pextestim pex_attr_name=”Lucinda Samson ” pex_attr_img=”https://prochorus.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/IMG-20170814-WA0010.jpg” pex_attr_parallax=”disabled”]I, Lucinda, was one of the kids that were part of the Educare centre during my school career. I came from the same circumstances as some if not most of the children at the centre. As a child we dream big, we believe our dreams is out there and we want to live and travel. I never saw myself making a difference in my own community, but God had a different plan.  I started to learn and love each child so much more then when I start working for Prochorus. The centre caters for different cultures and I have learnt to love them all equally.  Sometimes you’re just meant to love a child more when you know their circumstances, needs and the talents. My slogan that i wrote for our Educare centre is: ”Prochorus we are. No fear, no doubt. Different we are, but we stand together as one. Prochorus we are, so blessed through God”. – Lucinda[/pextestim]

ECD Training in Delft | 
Delft is a large community a short distance outside Cape Town City centre.  This diverse community has been the focus of gang violence, unemployment and large dropout rate of school going learners.

Upon further ‘investigation’ it became apparent that there was a large number of ECD centres servicing the needs of the community, by taking care of the little ones.

In July 2017 we gathered our first group of 15 principals. We came together, once a week for 6 weeks, to grapple with the many challenges of ECD educators, faced daily. Our time together was spent looking at all aspects of classroom management, planning a daily program and finally, the value of an effective ECD curriculum.  Part of the morning program is to complete a craft activity covered in the curriculum. This allows for a time of questions and learning from each other.

The attendance was so overwhelming, that we took the decision to run another course starting the beginning of October. At present, we are 11 principals covering all the aspects pertaining to the running of a safe and secure ECD centre. Working as team brings about diversity and expert knowledge. I called upon a dietitian to share her knowledge on planning a healthy menu. We had a wonderful morning sharing and learning together.

It’s been incredibly valuable to establish a relationship with these ladies. Their working environment is extremely harsh, and our times together bring encouragement, and hope.

Our annual fundraiser, Xhiliraces has been a great success. Even though it was a first time event, we had a lovely crowd of people and managed to raise funds for the organisation.

Although we tone down slightly and say bye to some of our beneficiaries for the school holidays- we are excited to prepare for the next half of the year.

Thank you as our partners, friends, family and donors who have supported us in the first half of 2017. There is sustained growth within the organisation, and we value your contributions to this growth.

XHILIRACES FEEDBACK | 

The Xhiliraces proved to be an amazing story of God’s faithfulness. We had the opportunity to not only raise funds for Prochorus and Kibwe Kids, but also have a brilliant family day with our friends and colleagues.

The event was hosted at the beautiful Oak Valley Farm Estate in the stunning Elgin Valley on the 13^th of May 2017. Prochorus Somerset West formed a crucial part of the organizing committee and assisted with the permit applications, on-the-day logistics, communications, safety, security and parking/traffic control.

Young and old came out on the day to support our cause and all seemed to have had a lot of fun. We hosted stalls such as Letsgo coffee, clothing/novelty stalls, Go-Events Human Foosball and “boere” games for the kids.

The event would not have been possible without our sponsors – Redstor Cloud Backup Services, Moore Stephens, Capewoods Interiors, Grayswan Investments, Shofar Somerset West and many more. We are immensely grateful to their invaluable support, be it in finances, products or merchandise.

We would like to extend a special word of appreciation to the host venue, Oak Valley, for their part in this successful fundraising event. Further, we would like to honor the heads of the respective NGO’s: Kibwekids’ – Annake Bester and Prochorus’ – Jan Scannell, for their leadership in this endeavour.

Thank you to all our donors, friends, family, colleagues and partners for your contributions – be it prayer, finances, products or time. Without you, the success of Xhiliraces 2017 would have never been realized.

See you all at the next Xhiliraces on the 12 May 2018.
#4TheKids

MANDELA DAY | 

Mandela day is an internationally observed day to honour the legacy left behind by Nelson Mandela. It’s not meant as a public holiday, but as a day to remember Madiba and his values through community service and volunteering. Nelson Mandela dedicated his life to fighting poverty, promoting peace, reconciliation and cultural diversity.

This Mandela Day we will be raising funds for two of our most prominent projects – Support-a-School-Child and the Jonkershoek Development Cycling project. With the aim to increase their capacity and resources to reach more beneficiaries.

How can you help? 

There are 3 ways you and/or your organization can help us to see this increased capacity a reality on Mandela day.

1. Donate R 67, R 670 or R 6 700 
   Pledge one of the above amounts through our GivenGain campaign in aid of the Jonkershoek Cycling and Support a Child projects.
2. Pledge 67 min of your time: 

Commit 67 min of your time to cycle with our Jonkershoek beneficiaries as an activist (also through our Givengain page)-and raise funds through getting your networks to sponsor your kilometres.

Alternatively, come to our offices and advocate for the Support-a-School-Child project among your networks. We will provide the phone lines and the internet –  you provide the man power and a laptop.

A network is a powerful enabler, and mobilizing your network will greatly aid Prochorus in achieving our goal.

3. Donate 67 Food parcels: 

All the beneficiaries on our projects come from poverty stricken homes, and although they are uplifted through the project, they often return to homes where they eat once a day. One food parcel can feed a small family for a month, and contribute to the holistic support of the project beneficiaries.

The food parcel list can be found Here 

If you are interested in participating in Prochorus Mandela Day activities, please feel free to contact Tosca Ferndale for more information at info@prochorus.org 

You are also free to visit our website www.prochorus.org to view our other projects and see if there is a different area you wish to serve/volunteer on Mandela day.

EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT CURRICULUM | 

Denise Jamieson, the ECD coordinator at Prochorus Stellenbosch has been working hard this year to get her curriculum registered nationally, at the Department of Social Development (DSD).

Once the curriculum was re-written and visual aids completed, the final copy was submitted to the DSD.  After 4 months of waiting, we are in the final stages of the registration process, which should be complete by the end of June.

The registered curriculum will become the official curriculum taught at all the crèches Prochorus manages. Together with the curriculum will be the teacher training for the crèche teachers and principals. Denise will be equipping the participants to effectively make use of her curriculum, in their crèches.

The first training course on the new curriculum took place during March and April.  The principals of 8, unregistered crèches came to Prochorus to enjoy a morning of learning, tackling the tasks of effective programme management and encouragement.  The second course will take place in Delft, just outside Cape Town city centre.

We are excited about the developments and growth in the area of Early Childhood Development within Prochorus, and look forward to seeing where this new curriculum will take us in the future

RAPID RELIEF IN FRANSCHHOEK | 
On Wednesday the 7 June 2017, a large storm hit the Western Cape. The wind was strong and the rain was heavy. Prochorus Franschhoek in collaboration with Franco made arrangements for rapid relief in anticipation of the bad weather. Midway through the storm a number of shacks collapsed due to the strong weather. Prochorus and Franco managed to get food to some families, to feed them for a week, as well as blankets to families in need.

We would like to thank Franco for not only funding this initiative, but also for the assistance on the ground. Further we would like to thank the Councillors who were quick to respond with structural support to damaged shacks.

To get involved with the rapid relief in Franschhoek contact David Anger at david.anger@prchorus.org 

UNAKHO |

Unakho has had a great start to the year. The class attended a sports day with another local NGO in our network, called Bridging Abilities in March. The day was filled with fun and laughter and everybody enjoyed it thoroughly.

 

KAYAMANDI |

The Stellenbosch Computer Literacy Project has managed to complete 4 courses from February to May. Our graduates leave equipped with basic computer literacy skills to make them more employable

The first quarter of the year has passed and Prochorus has seen many new and exciting developments.

We have grown to the Belville and Delft area! Keep your eyes on our Facebook page and website for more updates. Many of our projects have increased in number and reach and there are many exciting prospects on the horizon.

We would love it if you could Partner in Prayer with us on the following points:

1. Laborers: With the new developments, we have experienced a need for increased human capacity in our offices.

2. Xhiliraces: We are almost a month away from our annual fundraiser and we are really putting our faith out for more sponsors and just the general success of the event.

Thank you for the support thus far, and for walking this amazing journey with Prochorus.

XHILIRACES l 

Prochorus invites you to partner with us as we raise awareness of our cause and fund raise to see our cause remain. There are many ways to take part in this event. You can register to race, register a stall to contribute to our market, Volunteer on the day or make a donation.

We intend to make this an annual affair – and the Xhiliraces will be our flagship fundraiser.

If you want more information about the race visit: www.xhiliraces.com or alternativeley email info@xhiliraces.com

BANK DETAILS l

Thank you for all the faithful donations we have received over the past years. Your generosity has ensured that we can continue to Use Our Power to Empower.

Prochorus has changed our bank details. Please take note of the changes below:

Acc Name: Prochorus Community Development NPC
Acc. No.: 1096165295
Branch Code: 198765
Acc. Type: Business Cheque
Nedbank, Somerset West

BECOME AN ACTIVIST l

More than donations or volunteering, a great way to get involved with Prochorus Community Development is to become a Givengain Activist. Simply set up a fundraising project for one of your campaigns.

Once you’ve decided on a fun activity to attract donors (optional) and set a fundraising target and deadline, you can invite your network of friends and family to donate! Donations are directly and securely transferred into our bank account.

Simply follow the link below, and become an activist today!
https://www.givengain.com/join/

STELLENBOSCH l

Dream 

During term 1 the Dream-groups have been functioning mainly in the Cloetesville and Jonkershoek areas, around Stellebosch.  There have been a few beautiful moments where the girls and mentors have grown in team work, shared hearts and adventures, and got down to basics.  This year leadership development and taking ownership of the future – by making decisions today – is the driving vision for the group times and get-togethers. The first term of 2017 has seen some of the groups joining a cycle tour, doing well in school and growing in basic biblical knowledge of what it means to be a woman of God. “It is important that the girls know that they are not defined by the social context that they are living in”, one of the mentors commented.

We would love to still see some of the leaders in our groups start their own Dream-groups in 2017. Therefore we have started a culture within the groups, where the girls come with their own ideas and ‘practice’ their leadership skills within a safe environment.

FRANSCHHOEK l

Transcape MTB Race

R26149 was raised for Prochorus Franshhoek through the Transcape MTB race. The Transcape is a 7 stage MTB race over a distance of 650km.

We would like to thank all those who contributed,. A special thank you to Susan for persevering, completing the race, and doing it in aid of Prochorus.

For more information connect with us on Facebook, twitter or Instagram

Cycling Project

The Jonkershoek Cycling project has been excelling since its birth – and we seem to be moving from strength to strength. The Prochorus Jonkerhoek Cycling team took part in the Future Champions race. Our boys did well with Warren taking 3rd place and Gcobani taking 4^th in their age category. The team also took part in the Xterra earlier this year. Thank you to all the sponsorships and volunteers who made this possible.

On The 28th of May the team will be attending the WP National Cross Country Champs, which is a short course consisting of roughly 5 laps on extremely technical terrain. This will be followed by the 1st Spur Schools League on  the 23rd of June and follows a similar racing format We encourage the kids to excel in their cycling categories but also to simply attend and enjoy the sport no matter the result. This allows them to build confidence without unnecessary pressure to perform, especially since most of them are just entering adolescence.

A recent partnership with Still Water sport has been confirmed, which will see us reach this objective more clearly. We will be taking part in all of their events, giving opportunity to the team to gain exposure of competitive cycling. The partnership allows for great motivation to the boys in the project.

The Cycling Development Project currently trains on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 4pm, so please let us know if you would like to join as a volunteer or just a once off visit. We are also excited to welcome Amarider (Spur Schools League organizers) on the 13th of May to host an opening event for the league at our venue in Jonkershoek, to get our team really fired up to do well. The league’s aim is to create opportunity for scholars to compete in a safe and enjoyable learning environment and to create event related goals for them, towards staying motivated during tough training sessions.

We are excited about the upcoming events for the project, but even more excited about the progress of development it will have on the youngsters and their contribution towards building a better future community.

Second hand Store in Kayamandi

Oucond Hand for Kayamandir German volunteers, Marie, Karin and Anna have been hard at work at erecting our second hand shop. The shop was informally running since last year, but thanks to their given gain project, dedication and vision – they have transformed our store room into a beautiful shop where the ladies of Kayamandi can come shop for quality clothing at a very low second hand price.  The shop will be opened once a week for the community.

We will continue collecting clothing, and keeping a reserve to serve the community in crisis as well as all the beneficiaries of our projects. Clothing can be dropped off at the Prochorus office, or at your nearest local Shofar Church (where donations can be added to the Prochorus Bin)

Spring of Life Growth

‘Spring of Life’ crèche has grown, from the initial 18 children after the first year, to the current total of 31 children between the ages of 10 months and 6 years. Since 2016, the children receive breakfast on a daily basis and by June, we hope to roll out lunch as well. Both the classrooms are utilised daily, with the 1-3 year olds in the one classroom and the 4-6’s in the other, with a teacher apiece. We had our first ‘graduation ceremony’ at the end of last year. One pupil, Simon graduated and was very well supported by his classmates and their parents. We are looking forward to building this as a landmark celebration on the crèche’s calendar.

Hands of Life Project

A major development that has occurred at the ‘Spring of Life’ crèche, is the project ‘Hands of Life’, that was initiated through a local congregation member and executed by scholars of the Bernhard-Strigel-Gymnasium in Memmingen, Germany. These 14 children, between the ages 15 and 17, raised funds in their private capacity, each in their own unique way; some selling old stuff, some making stuff and selling it, some by own donation from savings and others by donating birthday money.

With these funds, we acquired more mattresses (with covers) for the increasing number of children to sleep on during their nap-time every day. The scholars and their teachers, spent the morning of 30 March, with our children, at the crèche, putting up new swings and a climbing net on the jungle gym; making new signage for the different classrooms, and making a flag that we hoisted ceremonially;. They also painted ‘the wall of life’ on our storage unit’s one side. Everyone had a great morning, and new friendships were started, that I believe will flourish into beautiful testimonies, as these scholars come from very different backgrounds and cultures.

I’m very hopeful for a long-term relationship between BSG and SoL, which will especially mean a lot to our kids. Before leaving, they decided to donate more funds, to enable us to install electricity in both classrooms before the winter strikes. They also agreed to start (and manage) a fund to enable some community children (possibly 5 per year), not able to pay the crèche’s tuition fees, to attend the crèche. Hopefully this part of the project will launch around June.

Project Yandisa

Something brand new to our region was the brain-child of a small group member from our congregation; she called it project ‘Yandisa’ and it translates to ‘taking something small, and making something large’. The uniqueness of the idea, lies in that people take something they have, in this case it was a cultural concept, ‘potjiekos’, and bring this ‘small thing’ to use it to connect the crèche kids and parents with the teachers and church community, to create a ‘large thing’, which in our case will hopefully be a support network that can ‘weather’ the challenges of our society. A fun day was enjoyed by all with the jumping castle, trampoline, amazing innovative ‘games’ and the awesome food parcels that were distributed, not to forget the delicious potjiekos samples that were shared.

ECD Centers Get a Fireproof Coat

Ever since Prochorus started in Franschhoek it had a strong ECD (early childhood development) focus. Prochorus played a vital role in the establishment of the ECD (early childhood development) forum, and continues to operate on the Project team of the Forum. One of the primary focusses of this forum is to assist all the ECD centres to achieve what is required for registering with the Department of Social Development, so that they can receive government funding. One of the largest challenges we faced to achieve this goal was in attaining a fire clearance certificate.

For this to happen, the majority of the 20+ ECD centres represented in the forum need to be painted with fire retardant paint, the question was where would the funding come from for this and who could do the job for a lower price than what was offered through other organisations. The project team set out to do research to find out what was going on and which organisation is willing to help provide and do the painting for ECD centres. After quite a while and much effort from the members at Bhabhathane, who head up the ECD forum project, we were able to get in touch with Transception.

Transception have done much of the ground work with regards to requirements for fireproofing, and they provide the paint as well as have experience in mobilising volunteer support to get the job done. All the necessary role players attended a large meeting with Transception present, and after that we put the plan into action to paint all the ECD centres in the ECD forum with the fire retardant paint, which was achieved at the beginning of May.

New Rapid Relief Program

We are very grateful to God for his provision in resources for the rapid relief project. FRANCO decided to head up a rapid relief program in the Franschhoek valley, and asked Prochorus Franschhoek to collaborate with them to make it possible. The aim of this project is for Prochorus Franschhoek to work alongside the local municipality to manage and distribute basic essentials to provide rapid relief to people in need.

Almost every year Franschhoeks local township suffers a disaster either in the form of a fire or flood, and it is of utmost importance that rapid relief is supplied to these people, who have possibly lost their shack and everything they own in a fire or flood. We would like to thank Franco for supplying the funding to make this program a possibility.

After School Program GROWS

Since its inception in January 2016, Hope and Future After School Programs has grown from one center and 25 children to three centers.  As we continue to gain momentum we are aiming to reach a capacity of over 100 children.  We have a team of 8 talented local After School staff members and volunteers who are passionate about impacting the vulnerable school-aged children of the community of Groendal through providing daily academic, spiritual, and emotional support.

We believe that in enabling community members to reach school-aged children in their home languages (Afrikaans and Xhosa), we will see both our learners and their teachers realize a brighter future.  Providing a safe space for learners to receive academic tutoring, create art, play sport, participate in cultural activities, hold debates and discussions, and receive spiritual and emotional support gives us the opportunity to make a transformative impact on our learners, their families, and our community as a whole.

Paradigm Shift

Prochorus Johannesburg was established during 2015 with a specific focus on skills development and entrepreneurship development. We partnered with an existing NGO – Paradigm Shift. Its aim is to empower micro-entrepreneurs in South Africa by offering various training courses to enable entrepreneurs to grow their businesses while also learning the principles of sound business practices from a Biblical perspective.

We held our first one day Business Experience Course (“BEC”) during August 2015 and had 13 delegates attend this course. Since then the interest in this course has grown significantly with the course registrations reaching full capacity at 30 delegates in the most recent course held in February 2016. We are currently aiming to [resent this course two more times in a ramp-up phase towards our 9 week business course which we aim to start during July 2016. The success rate from other churches using this model has been significant with entrepreneurs showing an average increase of 70% in its monthly income after attending this course. We are very excited to see lives changed by offering a combination of the power of the gospel and business education and we are trusting the Lord to bring the increase as needed.