News & Events

THE KUSASA PROJECT NOW HAS A MINIBUS THANKS TO THE GENEROSITY OF IES BROMMA (SWEDEN)
Below you can read about the amazing people from IES BROMMA. We are happy to announce that the funds the students and teachers raised for The Kusasa Project & Dalubuhle School have been put to excellent use in purchasing a 10-seater minibus which will meet a critical need for reliable transport for our programs. We have focused our efforts on afterschool and weekend programs on groups of approximately 10 children at a time in order to provide opportunity for greater interaction and more personal attention from our various volunteers in clubs and other activities. The acquisition of this bus will allow us to confidently plan our clubs and deliver the kids to the various venues where our activities are held, eliminating the reliance on inconsistent and unreliable alternatives. This certainty will assist children, volunteers and coordinators alike and allow us to expand our clubs and activities. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the generous students, teachers and administrators fr
om IES BROMMA! {if anyone is interested in making donations supporting the fuel, maintenance or insurance costs around this vehicle, please add a reference on your donation: "Minibus Support"}

THE 2ND ANNUAL BASTILLE FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT RUN BY THE KUSASA PROJECT: PRELUDE TO 2010!

July 12th saw the 2nd Bastille Football tournament for the primary school children of Franschhoek expand its reach to include 2 teams from Stellenbosch as well as teams from 4 primary schools in the valley. The day kicked off with many of the participants taking part in the wonderful parade down Main Street in the Soccer Mobile piloted by newly converted football fan Jonathan Peach. Over 80 kids participated in the 2 division format with Dalubuhle #1 winning in a final played under the snowy peaks of the Franschhoek Mountains on a perfect afternoon in the Cape Winelands. A gold cup was awarded to the winning team while all finalists (Dalubuhle #1 & #2) were awarded medals. Teams from Wes Eind Primer – including a determined girls squad known as the Glitter Girls (who also assist in their school kitchen each day) – Wemmershoek Primer, Groendal Primer, Dalubuhle Primary and the 2 travelling squads from Stellenbosch played on pitches laid out on the grounds near the monument for a te
rrific day of good spirited competition.
As with most of the programs run by The Kusasa Project, the football tournament succeeded due to the active involvement of both young and old volunteers and no interference from any bureaucratic organizations. Doug Gurr, as usual put together a smooth format and structure, taking into account the usual limitations in communicating with the children during term break, and coordinated with the teams over the holidays. Various young volunteers were recruited while others, including a number of former children from the township who were part of the original Dream Teams from Dalubuhle, came to us to offer their assistance. A special word of thanks goes to Buyisa Ngxembane, Khanyile Siqwayi, Mabhoyi Vukani, Buntu Manti, Leo du Toit, Matthew King, Wendy Matyumza, Azola Tafeni and Mzukisi Plaatje who covered all duties of refereeing, coaching, timekeeping, scoring and field maintenance. Thanks to the efforts of this team all the games began and ended on time and the field was as tidy when
we left as when we began.
The day was a great success and our special guests from Maties, coached by Jose Cabral, the Brazilian coach of University of Stellenbosch, were keen to be invited back to the beautiful valley for our next tournament. It was agreed by unanimous consent that a touch rugby competition between all our local schools will shortly be on the agenda! Thanks to all the boys and girls for making this a special day.


6 CHILDREN SPONSORED BY THE KUSASA PROJECT INTO FRANSCHHOEK HIGH
We are very pleased to announce our partnership with the administration and teachers of Franschhoek High School (FH), led by principal Gerald van der Spuy. In April of 2008 The Kusasa Project placed 6 students in grades 5, 7 & 9 into FH on a pilot program to bring at-risk and underprivileged children from poorly resourced & overcrowded schools into more conducive learning environments. The 6 children, who’s fees, uniforms, books and direct school expenses are being sponsored directly by The Kusasa Project are Sinulovu Ndude, Athi Mbinda, Asive Ndaba, Sbulelo Gatyeni, Xabiso Thingani and Sikelela Ntsipo. All of these children are Xhosa speaking children, living in shacks or substandard housing in the Valley, most of whom come from single or no-parent families and are subject to all of the challenges which our kids face daily. They have each shown an interest and determination to learn and have participated in various programs run by The Kusasa Project, including volunteering in the
Breakfast Club each morning at Dalubuhle School. The placement of these children required a coordinated effort with FH staff and teachers, ongoing moral and physical support and monitoring as well as a commitment from the children to a much more demanding learning environment. The schools which these children left have very poor resources, 60:1 student teacher ratios, few after school activities and low literacy rates, while the environment at Franschhoek High is serious, nurturing and positive with class sizes of 18-20 children of a variety of colours and backgrounds. It is our hope to increase the number of children sponsored to 25 within 18 months in association with the Chello Foundation, the UK based children’s charity as a core sponsor Look for exciting announcements in this regard soon!


ANA ALDEN BRINGS HER SMILE TO THE KUSASA PROJECT
Ana Alden a 19year old University of Bath student from Madrid came to offer her time, energy and contagious joy to The Kusasa Project for 3 weeks in June. We were privileged to have Ana working with us in our morning reading programs, assisting in Grade 2 throughout the school day and accompanying the Dalubuhle children on a visit to the South African Parliament in Cape Town. Ana, who’s father was a client of Dave’s during his Bank of America days, worked wonderfully with the primary school kids, using her skills as the older sister of 3 siblings and a natural warmth which immediately endeared her to students and teachers alike. She was instrumental in the Spanish victory in the Euro 2008 Football tournament as she had the entire student body sending positive energy to the Spanish team throughout the final, proving the power of the children in our midst! (Would anyone have picked the Spaniard to win?!) We appreciate all of Ana’s help and thank her parents for entrusting her to our
care and sponsoring her plane ticket.

THE KUSASA PROJECT RUNNING CLUB KIDS GET NEW SHOES!!
THANKS TO JEANNIE COMMRIE FOR SPEARHEADING A DRIVE TO GET RUNNING SHOES FOR OUR SQUAD - BECAUSE OF JEANNIE'S EFFORTS (AND THE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE OF HER, HER HUSBAND GRAEME, FRIENDS LEIGH & LYNN MURRAY AND FUNDS PREVIOUSLY RAISED BY HUGO BLAISSE IN HIS NY MARATHON RUN) THE ENTIRE TEAM CAN NOW RUN IN DECENT RUNNING SHOES RATHER THAN BAREFOOT, IN SANDALS OR SCHOOL SHOES AS THEY WERE BEFORE. An exciting new sporting initiative is under way, spurred by a combination of local running enthusiasts, our association with the Anna Foundation in Stellenbosch and the kids desire for regular competitive sporting activity. What began as an attempt by local physio Clare Horne to get local folks out on a Tuesday evening fun run, got legs with a push from our friend Anna Brom of the Anna Foundation who crafts afterschool programs around running and then took form when the 15 kids we’d occasionally trained got the bug to keep running and often to meet us to take them to the center of Franschhoek to
run. Now each Tuesday evening we have a core of kids from 10-15 years running the 5km loop barefoot with “better heeled” members of the Franschhoek Health club and other locals under the majestic peaks of the Franschhoek Mountains. As one of the few activities in which poor black & coloured children can come in contact on an equal footing with white adults in our community it is a wonderful example of the simple way in which the barriers which we at the Kusasa Project believe can and must be broken in our community and South Africa at large in order to provide a hopeful future for all. In late August we will bring the kids to their second official 5km race and look forward to a great time. WE ARE STILL LOOKING FOR HELP WITH FUNDS FOR TRANSPORT COSTS, BUT THANKS TO OUR PALS AT IES BROMMA WE CAN USE OUR NEW MINIBUS TO SAFELY TRANSPORT THE KIDS TO RACES. THANKS TO ALL FOR YOUR HELP

IES BROMMA (SWEDEN) TEACHERS & STUDENTS COME TO FRANSCHHOEK
The Kusasa Project and Dalubuhle Primary School hosted 5 wonderful guests from the Internationella Engleska Skolan (International English School) Bromma, Sweden for a week late May. We were privileged to have Ms. Marietta Kindberg - Principal of IES Bromma along with Mr. Don Christian - Deputy Principal, Harold Carlsson – Math & Science teacher as well as 2 inspiring students, Amanda Lafgren & Harris Lukeman. This visit, during which the charismatic Ms. Kindberg presented a cheque for R90,000 to The Kusasa Project, was the culmination (or better yet the beginning!) of an effort by Catherine Carlsson, a native South African now teaching in Sweden, to link her school with Dalubuhle Primary School, one of the core schools in The Kusasa Project. Catherine’s mom lives in Paarl and is the friend of one of our volunteers, Liz Atkins. Upon hearing about The Kusasa Project, Catherine put her huge energies into mobilizing IES Bromma, a dual Swedish/English middle school (grades 6-9) locat
ed just outside Stockholm, to raise funds for Dalubuhle and The Kusasa Project. She kept in regular contact with Doug & Dave and ultimately organized the entire student body to take a day to work in various ways (busking, washing cars, bake sales, working for their parents, etc) with the specific goal of raising funds for the project in South Africa. The result was a huge success as evidenced by the cheque Marietta presented to us for the benefit of the kids of Dalubuhle. Catherine and the team were able to convince various corporate sponsors to donate flights and car rental for the team to make the trip to not only deliver the funds but to meet students and teachers and to work with us in the school over the week. Unfortunately Catherine came down with the flu just before the trip, but was ably represented by her husband Harold. At a welcoming dinner hosted by Doug and Dionne Gurr the kids had us in tears reading the essays which won them the opportunity to join their Principal
and teachers on the trip to South Africa. Melvin King, Head of Bridge House Prep was so moved by the sentiment, commitment and genuineness of the community spirit as articulated in Harris and Amanda’s essays that he crafted an assembly for his 6-8 grade students to demonstrate the true spirit of service learning which he has been working to bring to this privileged private school in the Valley. Needless to say, Marietta and her team left a huge impression on the kids at Dalubuhle (where they worked for 3 days assisting with letter writing and English), Lucy Mbenenge – Principal at Dalubuhle, and all of us who were fortunate enough to spend time with them during their visit. We are working now to determine the best way to apply their funds, but most importantly look to build a lasting relationship with our new friends from Sweden for the benefit of South African and Swedish children going forward.

5 CHILDREN TO ATTEND OUTWARD BOUND COURSE IN GRABOUW
We are very excited to announce that 5 of our outstanding teens will be attending a 4 day course run by Outward Bound, a highly successful training and development organization which focuses on key elements of human development so sorely neglected in the educational environment in which our kids are stuck. We are pleased that David Muir of Outward Bound has enthusiastically embraced The Kusasa Project as one of his targeted community based organizations with which to work. While Outward Bound, through corporate donations, provides significant funding for these courses, The Kusasa Project must meet a portion of the costs and provide transport and basic personal items (sleeping bags, hiking boots etc) which are out of the reach of most of our children. Should anyone wish to donate specifically to support this initiative, please contact us at info@thekusasaproject.org.
Outward Bound Program Goals:
• Personal Development
• Capacity Building
• Resilience and coping skills
• Problem solving & creative thinking
• Motivation &Support
• Team work and effectiveness
• Leadership Skills
• Exploring Diversity
• Communication
• Self Confidence
• Decision making strategies
• Positive reinforcement, confidence building
• Listening, commitment, trust, cooperation with common goals
• Managing and delegating, effective principles & practice
• Tolerance & Acceptance, Respect
• Strategy, confidence, articulation,
Environmental Skills