Update from Diepsloot During Lockdown

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	14 June 2020

	Hello , We continue to navigate our way through these interesting and challenging times and it's been great connecting with so many of you via WhatsApp, email and especially our Zoom sessions which have focused on brainstorming our role through the next levels of lockdown. We've also continued with Phono-Graphix training via Zoom over this time, which means that our volunteers are getting a deeper understanding of the method which will benefit the programme moving forward. Your response to our call for help in April helped us respond to the immediate and most critical need for families to receive food over this time. This was a huge relief, but more importantly, it gave us the opportunity to connect with the Diepsloot community and individuals in a more meaningful way. This has translated into our ever-evolving, post-lockdown plan to feed the minds as well as the mouths of so many children who have already missed out on 3 months of schooling. With all the delays and uncertainty around schools re-opening we have continued to re-imagine our education delivery and are actively setting up mini-hubs in various areas in Diepsloot where children and their parents can access additional support from our hub leaders. This will be an extension of the Virtual Voucher Feeding Scheme as well as the usual literacy work that we do at Diepsloot Combined School. The hub leaders are unemployed youth who live in Diepsloot; are past pupils of DCS; are also recipients of the bi-monthly Virtual Food Vouchers and have already started to establish relationships with the families in their immediate communities over the last few weeks as they have been identifying people who need our support the most. We continue to rely on Nopinki - our community worker on the ground in Diepsloot, who does an amazing job working with families, getting their details and making sure that those in need either get food parcels or virtual vouchers. Nopinki is the first to establish a Mini-Hub in her community. We hope that some of you will be able to mentor one of these leaders moving forward as well as some of the older children in their immediate communities. We have a real opportunity to connect with individual learners, to get to know them as well as their career aspirations and start to build relationships whilst ensuring that the 2020 academic year is not completely lost. Nopinki starts the first Mini-Hub in her community This will be the focus of our Zoom Sessions continuing tomorrow, from 9am to 10:15am as we start to formalise our Virtual Volunteer and Mentor programme and we invite you all (local and international) to join us on this exciting adventure where we potentially reach more people in a more meaningful way. See the attached newsletter and read about our new and ever evolving plans to run a "Virtual Volunteer" programme as we continue to meet and provide support regularly online. Sue Huck has prepared the attached newsletter giving you more information about what we've been up to and the way forward. Thanks to all our volunteers and supporters who jumped in and helped us to be part of the solution in the Diepsloot food crisis. Since we reached out to all of you on Saturday 18 April to urgently raise R5000 that weekend to feed 15 of the most vulnerable families who were in desperate need of help, we were not only able to cover the cost of food for the 5 families, but raised over R60 000 in just 2 days. Many of you shared the newsletter with your friends and through this process we have increased our network. Thanks to Sue Huck, we were introduced to a Foundation who is funding the distribution of R300 Shoprite vouchers every fortnight to 300 families in Diepsloot. We also had Kos Online take an interest in the work that we do and they have made us one of their beneficiaries where their clients can add food parcels to their weekly grocery shop for DCS. This is another way in which people can assist us by donating food parcels to DCS via the Kos Online platform. Follow this link to find out how this programme works. Our friends at AKA (Alpha Kappa Alpha) Sorority pledged their support to provide food parcels to the 12 most vulnerable families at Diepsloot Combined School - several of whom are child headed. This means that each of these families get fresh produce as well as R600 in virtual vouchers each month. How you can continue to help us now and through the various levels of lockdown. Whilst money is always needed to cover the cost of various programmes and resources, your time and expertise remain the most valuable resource and we look forward to you being part of our "Virtual Volunteer" team moving forward. The Shoprite virtual vouchers have been a real hit. They have proven to be the safest way for people to buy food in their own time. Any money raised by Edu Fun during the various levels of lockdown will go towards Shoprite vouchers, food parcels as well as education packs and any other resources and support required by the mini-hub leaders in the identified communities. Read our ideas in the attached newsletter so that you can see how we plan to deliver our education programme as well as food parcels via our satellite hubs. Click here to make a credit card donation on the South African PAYFAST Platform. In the section that says "leave an appreciation message", please type "Lockdown Support" as a reference. Email info@edufunsa.co.za if you require a tax certificate. Or, alternatively, you can make a donation on the Global Giving platform here. Where people who pay tax in the Sates or in the UK can get a tax rebate. Each week as we brainstorm with more and more people, we get more clarity on what our role might be moving forward and we were incredibly lucky to have Gillian from Emerge in the UK host a free session on how to set up a mentoring programme. Anthea who has worked with Gillean and introduced her to us will be assisting us to move forward with our customised Mentor Programme as we continue to define our new way of "doing". Please join us tomorrow if you can from 9am to 10:15am. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85119822022?pwd=OFlWRjkzY01aZmZ6aGZoT0lNeWpGZz09 Meeting ID: 851 1982 2022 Password: 835595 Please share the attached newsletter with your friends and colleagues. Have a great week and keep safe! Jenny


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