August 2023
When 48 women gather for life-impacting learning and experiences, it looks like this! Thank you so much to this group of phenomenal women - all partial care centre facilitators on our partner farms in the Western Cape who came together in August at Goudini Spa for this very important training programme.
The fantastic team from Spieel Collective presented their Arts for Psychological Support (APS) and Skills Sharing Workshop. This week's 2-day workshop incorporated Resilience-focused Trauma Intervention.
The training room during sessions like these are always filled with colourful pieces of material, various 'props' and lots of writing material - all creating a dynamic space for exploration, expression, and discovery. Thank you to the Spieel team for bringing your expertise, energy, guidance and compassion to this very important process.
Feedback from one of the attendees: “I am Yvonne Japhta, 45 years of age, I have two beautiful children and am happily married. I come from De Doorns, the farm De Vlei. With the assistance from Waitrose, we’ve been able to accomplish so many things on the farm. We have a partial care centre where the kids are assisted with their homework in the afternoons. They have wonderful programmes, like the CAMI programme (computer assisted mathematics instruction) and they also installed the Google classroom for us. In addition to that, Waitrose also gave us the opportunity to attend various training programmes. Like the one where we are at today at Goudini Spa, just having finished a two-day course where we learnt so much.
Also, yesterday I attended a function of the Phenomenal Women of the Year where I was a runner-up in the ECD category (Early Childhood Development). It was a wonderful opportunity. Philda nominated me for the award and at first, I didn’t think I would receive a prize, but my love for children… The prize that is always the best for me, is that what I invest in the children. When the children come to me that say: “Teacher, what you told me that time… I could use it.” (Them remembering and learning). That is for me the true prize. It is good to invest in our children. And here where I am today, and where I would like to be in 5 or 6 years, I want to see that our children really grow – that I am part of their dream, what they want to achieve. They say: if your dreams don’t scare you, they are not big enough! I have so many dreams. Then I think, will it be realised? But I also know that I have support and assistance. So I just need to go and ask and share my dreams with people.
So, I believe that in 5 years’ time, I see myself maybe in a teaching position due to my love for children. And I think, it is still about our children on the farm. I wouldn’t want to leave the farm, because they need me more there than children in a mainstream school. I also know the needs of our children there, in a family environment. Everyone knows one another and the needs of the community on the farm. I always feel I create a safe space for our children there. So even if I have a degree or a teaching position, I think I’ll remain where I am today. Thank you so much.”
