NEWS FROM DAYSPRING CHILDREN’S VILLAGE
10 May 2022
Dear Yea Rotary
From the staff and children of Dayspring Children’s Village/HIS School Dayspring we want to express our sin-cere thank you for your incredibly patient and generous hearts towards us for so many years. The toilets, ablutions, sewerage system and new class block are beyond our wildest imaginations and blessings! It has been too long since I last updated you or sent any pics. I have had to travel back and forth between the USA and SA a lot in the last year or so and things were getting lost in the shuffle.
The sign has been an awesome blessing and we can even tell people to look for it when they need to find where to turn! The convenience of the having the beautiful toilet block right next to the classes has saved an incredible amount of time when the kids say they need to go.
2022 started out the craziest year in my 26 years of running Dayspring. To be honest, with only half the school boarding at a time the past 2 years, the lesser number of kids on the property kept discipline and oversight issues to a minimum. We went from 45 children boarding per week in a 2 week cycle to 97! For the first time in 40 years, every child that was enrolled the year before and those that enrolled for 2022, actually showed up! We usually have 8-10 kids not pitch but this year every single one, plus one that was removed last year, showed up on the first day. The kids seemed to be overly excited to see their friends in the grades they were not boarding with the past 2 years and all rules/boundaries seemed forgotten.
Elijah was stressing about getting all the extra beds made, which we do every year, only to have to remove them the first week so I told him, “Don’t worry, I am sure 10 kids won’t pitch as usual so we have enough beds now.” Only of course to have to eat my words and scramble to buy the beds and mattresses to cover the full amount!
We also had many last minute resignations due to denied visas or teachers suddenly finding a job closer to where they actually live (part of the challenge of having a farm school 25km from the nearest town). We had to scramble to replace the staff but have finally settled in. We always remind J God that this is HIS school and so He needs to provide His workers into this harvest field but honestly the transition has been tough. We thank God that in the previous few years we had no resignations and the continuity and flow was a blessing.
We praise God that we were able to bring all the children back to full school because COVID negatively affect-ed their education. It is a struggle for teaching staff to keep up with all the curriculum changes the Department sends out as they try to revamp in order to fill gaps in learning but attempt to get learners caught up with their grade level.
We have 9 children boarding on weekends as well and 2 more children about to be added due to their hectic situations at home. We have spent hours during weekends and holidays visiting the families of our most at risk children doing conflict resolution and parenting skill training. We have seen some growth and healing in our families, which we praise God for.
Some amazing blessings: we were able to move into our new classroom block of 4 classes at the beginning of the year! Thank so much for sowing into their completion. We still have a couple items left to do that we hope to complete in June holidays. To experience God’s miracles, blessings, provision, goodness, healing, firsthand is the greatest blessing and privilege any of us will ever have.
Thank you so much for being a part of changing legacies for eternity!
Blessings from Elijah, Kim and the family at Dayspring
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Bottom—
10 May 2022
Dear Yea Rotary
From the staff and children of Dayspring Children’s Village/HIS School Dayspring we want to express our sin-cere thank you for your incredibly patient and generous hearts towards us for so many years. The toilets, ablutions, sewerage system and new class block are beyond our wildest imaginations and blessings! It has been too long since I last updated you or sent any pics. I have had to travel back and forth between the USA and SA a lot in the last year or so and things were getting lost in the shuffle.
The sign has been an awesome blessing and we can even tell people to look for it when they need to find where to turn! The convenience of the having the beautiful toilet block right next to the classes has saved an incredible amount of time when the kids say they need to go.
2022 started out the craziest year in my 26 years of running Dayspring. To be honest, with only half the school boarding at a time the past 2 years, the lesser number of kids on the property kept discipline and oversight issues to a minimum. We went from 45 children boarding per week in a 2 week cycle to 97! For the first time in 40 years, every child that was enrolled the year before and those that enrolled for 2022, actually showed up! We usually have 8-10 kids not pitch but this year every single one, plus one that was removed last year, showed up on the first day. The kids seemed to be overly excited to see their friends in the grades they were not boarding with the past 2 years and all rules/boundaries seemed forgotten.
Elijah was stressing about getting all the extra beds made, which we do every year, only to have to remove them the first week so I told him, “Don’t worry, I am sure 10 kids won’t pitch as usual so we have enough beds now.” Only of course to have to eat my words and scramble to buy the beds and mattresses to cover the full amount!
We also had many last minute resignations due to denied visas or teachers suddenly finding a job closer to where they actually live (part of the challenge of having a farm school 25km from the nearest town). We had to scramble to replace the staff but have finally settled in. We always remind J God that this is HIS school and so He needs to provide His workers into this harvest field but honestly the transition has been tough. We thank God that in the previous few years we had no resignations and the continuity and flow was a blessing.
We praise God that we were able to bring all the children back to full school because COVID negatively affect-ed their education. It is a struggle for teaching staff to keep up with all the curriculum changes the Department sends out as they try to revamp in order to fill gaps in learning but attempt to get learners caught up with their grade level.
We have 9 children boarding on weekends as well and 2 more children about to be added due to their hectic situations at home. We have spent hours during weekends and holidays visiting the families of our most at risk children doing conflict resolution and parenting skill training. We have seen some growth and healing in our families, which we praise God for.
Some amazing blessings: we were able to move into our new classroom block of 4 classes at the beginning of the year! Thank so much for sowing into their completion. We still have a couple items left to do that we hope to complete in June holidays. To experience God’s miracles, blessings, provision, goodness, healing, firsthand is the greatest blessing and privilege any of us will ever have.
Thank you so much for being a part of changing legacies for eternity!
Blessings from Elijah, Kim and the family at Dayspring
Top —Middle-
Bottom—
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| inside a classroom | rear of Ruth’s classblock | Ruth’s classblock to the R with toilets tucked in behind |