Greetings to you all! We do hope that all is well with you. We are coming to the end of our time here and are feeling very mixed emotionally. Also there are many practical arrangements that have to take place in the last weeks of our stay, such as selling our furniture and car, as well as completing the current course and handing over the next. Our students are in the middle of their computing exams this week and we are doing final one-to-one interviews with them to see how they have progressed and help them to plan their next steps.
The really exciting news is that Oasis as a whole, and our project in particular, has received funding from a number of sources. Some of you have funded Oasis SA directly and we thank you for that. With Bridge the Gap, Xstrata, our major funders, organised a function for all our past students in a Church in Diepsloot. They brought in outside caterers and laid out the church very attractively. Karl organised community leaders to speak, from churches, schools and the government social department, who all spoke highly about the work that Oasis were doing. The fact that Oasis and Xstrata actually came into their community to hold this event was really appreciated as it seems that not many organizations are prepared to risk it. But the real highlight was the stories told by the students themselves, which was very encouraging for us. As a result Xstrata have approved the funding for this year, we can afford to take the next group of students on the residential induction camp, and Xstrata have ‘promised’ funding for next year.
On the personnel front, Karl and Adi-Marie are taking over responsibility for the programme. Adri-Marie, whose brief is Education, will be responsible for delivery of the training, and Karl, whose brief is Community Action, will organize the students and be responsible for their mentoring. We have also recruited two other people to help with the day to day running. We are thrilled to welcome back Tina, an ex-student of ours, and a young man called Scotch who is studying Law who will be with us on a part-time basis. Scotch is taking exams currently so I cannot get a photo.
So we have a team in place and wish them all the best as they look after our “baby”. It’s hard letting go but its something we all have to do once our offspring come of age! On the health front it has been a difficult year for Nicola. She has missed almost two months because of her operation but is now well. She just feels that she has missed out on this course. It has obviously had an impact on the amount that Nicola has been able to engage with the students.
We arrive back at the end of June and will be staying with Nicola’s parents for a while before we move back into our house in Farnham. We are still employed by Oasis in July as they allow us time to get settled back into the UK and find paid work! We will write again once we are back in the UK to give you a final update.
Financially we are still short of our target. For those of you supporting us financially we did ask if you could support us from September 2008 for an extra 12 months. That includes the August payment this year. If you are still happy to do this then it would more or less clear our debt to Oasis.
We realise that we couldn’t do what we are doing without your prayers and support, so thank you again.
Graham & Nicola www.granicsa.co.uk
