HELP US RAISE $43,200 TO PROVIDE EDUCATION FOR THE CHILDREN OF THE DASSENBERG WALDORF SCHOOL OF SOUTH AFRICA...

Barbara first became aware of the Waldorf School movement in 1988. when she read about it in a magazine. Barbara was deeply touched by such a beautiful way to educate a child. When her oldest daughter was five years old and ready for kindergarten she was enrolled in the San Diego Waldorf School. A few years later some very unfortunate circumstances led Barbara's family to leave the school and to take another path. However, Barbara still holds a place in her heart for Waldorf education and strongly believes that all children that are educated under this system will become whole human beings.

When Barbara was looking for a way to support Waldorf education her attention was caught by a small Waldorf School in South Africa, which she became aware of while researching another Waldorf School that she fundraised for back in 1995~96.

The Dassenberg Waldorf School is unusual in that they have created a school that unites the different communities in its area, giving equal opportunities to the Xhosa-speaking child living in poverty in a tin shack, to the English speaking children from the farms around and the Afrikaans speaking children from the nearby town. They have a vision of building a firm foundation for the future of South Africa, healing the wounds of the apartheid era by educating a new generation of children, who grow up understanding and respecting each other's cultures and languages.

However, to continue to provide places for all the children from under-privileged backgrounds that are currently at the school, they need help. It is Barbara's strong desire to help some forty children that are in danger of losing their placement in the Dassenberg Waldorf School as the school doesn’t have the financial resources to keep all their subsidized places available in 2009.

Here is a little bit about the Dassenberg Waldorf School:

Our school is named for the area we are in and the line of hills - The Dassenberg Hills – that are close to the farm that the school is built on. We are about 45 minutes from Cape Town, South Africa, outside the light industrial town of Atlantis and close to an 'informal settlement' (a community living in tin shacks with no water or electricity, that are gradually being replaced by government block houses) called Witsand, with mostly Xhosa families living there and working on local farms or in the industries of Atlantis. Most of the children looking for sponsorship come from here, with mother or father working on one of the local farms usually on a minimum wage. Most of these families are determined to give their children a good start in life, and are already making a big effort to pay the minimum fee that we ask of them to achieve this.

Our school is independent of the public/government schools, but we have to show that we meet their education requirements (of course being Waldorf we do!) We have no funding from them for the main primary school section and rely on the school fees to finance the school. The alternative for our children, if they can't keep their place with us, is one of the public schools in the town nearby - Atlantis. These schools are generally very crowded, with about 60 children per class and as you can imagine have quite a rough atmosphere. There are several reasons why parents want to send their children to our school:

• We teach in English (with Afrikaans and Xhosa being taught as second languages).Most of the local schools are taught in Afrikaans, but more families are seeing English as a better option allowing more choice in the future, as far as further education and work options are concerned.
• Small class size, mean that each child gets a chance to learn and grow.
• We have children from all the different local cultures and language backgrounds, in a harmonious atmosphere of respect.
• The Waldorf system works very well teaching children who are learning in their second language, giving plenty of time to establish the basics of letters and numbers in the early years, while they are at the same time becoming fluent in English.

At Living Mindfully we are urgently looking for sponsors before December - the end of the school year 2008 - to ensure that the children currently at the school on subsidized places can keep their place for next year as well. The amount of fees needed per month for one child, is $90.00 US dollars over 12 months. That is $1080.00 dollars per year, per child. Those of us at Living Mindfully aim to raise a total of $43,200.00 dollars for the next year to pay the school fees of forty children at Dassenberg Waldorf School. We would like to see children being able to complete their primary education at Dassenberg Waldorf School, so the ideal would be for you as an individual or a group to sponsor an individual child on an ongoing basis, but any amount you can give is most appreciated.

More Information at www.DassenbergWaldorf.org.za/

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Have a look through our website at www.WhyWaldorfWorks.org