How are you today?

 

"Unjani?" How are you? Today, ask it and then wait for the real answer.

It's World Mental Health Day. In a lot of homes, stress doesn't get a name. It just gets carried, by the mother doing month-end sums at midnight, the matric learner with exams coming, the gogo raising grandchildren on one pension.

Carrying it together makes it lighter. 

A cup of tea with a neighbour.

 A walk home with someone. 

Asking twice when the first answer is "I'm fine."

Check in on someone today. And if you're carrying more than you can manage, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) has free helplines.

 🍞 Link for donation  -    https://www.clrfoundation.com/donate-1

You can join our WhatsApp channel for daily updates, stories and videos. https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vb6QzBf72WU2IWqXcQ3Z  

🌍 Trying to make a difference.  🌍

From the CLR Foundation, we thank every donor for their support, which helps us to continue visiting the townships and making a difference. 

Township stories and realities - Kagiso and Naledi

 

Last Wednesday we asked for two more teenage reading buddies. Naledi, 16, walked in the next afternoon still in her school uniform.

She already reads with her little sister every night, she told us, so she figured she may as well do it for a few more kids. She's quieter than Sipho. She brings a pencil and lets the younger ones underline the words they get right, so they can see how many there are by the end.

Today was her first proper Wednesday. Kagiso decided within ten minutes that Naledi was "also allowed" to help her. From Kagiso, that's a big compliment.

We still have room for one more reading buddy aged 14 to 18. Message us if you know someone patient who likes kids.

 ❤️Link for donation  -    https://www.clrfoundation.com/donate-1

You can join our WhatsApp channel for daily updates, stories and videos. https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vb6QzBf72WU2IWqXcQ3Z  

🔴 Trying to make a difference. 🔴

From the CLR Foundation, we thank every donor for their support, which helps us to continue visiting the townships and making a difference. 

#TownshipStories #YouthLeadership #Literacy #Volunteer #SouthAfrica

Township stories and realities - two stories for you today.

 

 First story - Mrs Mahlangu

Mrs Mahlangu gave us a list. It's eleven names long, and every child on it needs a Grade 3 to Grade 5 reader of their own.

The reading corner is good at picture books now, thanks to you. Where we're thin is the next step up: short chapter books and graded readers for children who've moved past the pictures but aren't ready for thick novels.

Books in isiZulu, Sesotho and Setswana are the hardest to find, and they're the ones the children ask for first.

R30 covers one second-hand graded reader. Donate through the link below, or drop off books your own children have outgrown. Message us and we'll arrange collection

 #BookDrive #Literacy #DonateToday #GetInvolved #SouthAfrica

 

 Second story - One hand washes the other

 "Isandla sihlamba esinye." One hand washes the other. (isiXhosa proverb)

The teacher sends the child. The reading buddy sits with her. The gogo tells the story. The driver brings the vegetables. The cook makes sure nobody reads on an empty stomach.

Nobody in that chain is doing it alone, and nobody is doing it as a favour. It's what neighbours do for each other here, and it's been that way much longer than we've been around.

Midweek check-in: whose hand has been washing yours lately? Tag them below.

#Ubuntu #CommunitySolidarity #TogetherWeCan #HopeInAction #MidweekMotivation

 ❤️Link for donation  -    https://www.clrfoundation.com/donate-1

You can join our WhatsApp channel for daily updates, stories and videos. https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vb6QzBf72WU2IWqXcQ3Z  

🔴 Trying to make a difference. 🔴

 From the CLR Foundation, we thank every donor for their support, which helps us to continue visiting the townships and making a difference.