Amy Mak, MS, OTR/L Takes S'cool Moves to Nceduluntu Sanctuary Trust Orphanage

Amy, we are so honored that you asked S'cool Moves to share in your journey of love to South Africa. When I received this email from you, my heart filled with so much hope and gratitude. Your mission to support the volunteers and children teach us about the difference that one person can make in the lives of many.

For those of you reading this, perhaps as a school or classroom project, the children can adopt this orphanage and reach out to the children and volunteers. Amy has provided us with a link for more information about this special place for the wonderful children who need us as part of their tribe.

Here is Amy's email to us:

Thank you again for the generous donation of S'cool Moves materials for the orphanage and preschool I visited in South Africa! I recently returned from my trip, and I am excited to share with you some photos from my time there. The staff and volunteers were grateful to receive the resources and the children really enjoyed going through the posters!

The Nceduluntu Sanctuary Trust orphanage houses children ages 1-16 and also has a preschool on the premise for the children living in the township. Upon arrival, I discovered that due to a lack of funding, they do not have any teachers but rely solely on volunteers from Global Vision International (GVI) to run the preschool. You can find out more information about GVI here:

http://www.gviusa.com/programs/volunteer-with-children-south-africa/
https://vimeo.com/118682013

I was able to work with Andy Eskeland, the full-time Project Coordinator that leads the team of GVI volunteers at the orphanage. I gave him and his team an overview of the S'cool Moves program and all the materials you sent me.  We plan to stay in touch via email in case he has any questions or needs further assistance. Per the photos and videos, you can see that the children were really excited to go through the posters. The children spends the majority of their time outside and the large open space at the orphanage was the perfect setting for the stations. I was amazed to see how quickly some of the children were helping each other complete some of the movements and exercises. Additionally, the volunteers were excited to incorporate many of the posters into their daily school routine, especially during transitions when the children had the most difficult time with self-regulation, attention and focus.

At the Somlandela preschool, there were 90 children, ages 2-5, in 4 classrooms. They only have one teacher per room so the S'cool Moves program was really helpful for them in providing activities for the children to do independently. Since both locations did not have sufficient staff, I was able to adapt the program to their specific needs.

Thank you again for your support and have a wonderful weekend!

Amy Mak, MS, OTR/L