JUNE

June was an incredibly productive month for The Compass Trust. We helped launch Levana, an initiative set up by Lluis Blanc (board member) and Rickard Sunden. Levana allows people to view profiles of the children that we work with and gives the option to donate to put money directly towards their tuition fees. We’ve already raised over $1800USD through Levana, which is an unbelievable way to start our partnership. We still need to raise more to help secure the future of The Compass Trust Scholarship children. Please have a look at www.levanafund.com if you are interested in helping create a better life for these extremely gifted children.

Not only that, we formed partnerships with 8 different ambassadors to help promote each child’s campaign. I want to thank Iva, Devyn, Raul, Oleg, Nikie, Mikaila, Erik and Diego for agreeing to help spread The Compass Trust’s message across the globe to help create a brighter future for the Lavender Hill community.

Mikaila, our Canadian Ambassador, created an 11 minute video explaining what TCT has been up to this year. She did an absolutely phenomenal job and has helped us out from the beginning. Without Mikaila, TCT would not be what it is today. Check out the video here: https://vimeo.com/170473485

Levana Primary School has been in exam period for the last couple of weeks and finally finished on June 24. This is the half way point in the school year, which means it is vital that The Compass Trust keeps a close eye on the scholarship children and making sure their grades meet the standard which they have set for themselves.

What We’ve Achieved This Year

Now that I will be coming back to Europe, it feels only right to summarise where we are as an organisation.

– Supplied over 30,000 Rand ($2,000 USD) of sports equipment to Levana Primary School.

– Taught 3 academic terms of physical education classes and assistance.

– Assisted 6 children’s successful applications into Muizenberg High School.

– Assisted 9 children’s successful applications into Cape Academy of Mathematics, Science and Technology — South Africa is ranked 148th in maths and science, which helps vindicate what we are doing in helping the children gain acceptances into Cape Academy of Maths and Science.

– Helped launch Levana.

– Connected with 8 international ambassadors to spread the word of TCT and to represent a specific child to help fund their education.

– initiAID partnership —We have partnered with a german organisation that runs a computer lab in Capricorn (township next to Lavender Hill). Three of their board members have joined The Compass Trust. They will help us keep everything going in regards to the scholarship and sports programs. It is all very presumptuous right now, but we hope to officially announce something special in the future 🙂

Welcome

A huge welcome to our three new board members from initiAID, Yannik, Sascha and Jamie! And another special welcome to Josh Dauer who will be working with TCT on the ground South Africa until October!!

What happens now?

Our new South African board member, Jamie, will basically take over everything I have been working on. The Scholarship children start their new schools in January 2017 and Jamie will be working with them and their families to ensure they are prepared for what lies ahead. Jamie is originally from Mitchell’s Plain and currently works at the University of Cape Town. He is an inspiration for the children and will do a magnificent job in helping the children prepare for next year. Providing we find the funding, we will look to have a new intake of children applying for high schools next year. Jamie will now work on finding transport for the children and helping with any needs the children or their families may have.

The sports equipment we bought has been left with the school so that they can use it at their own digression. We will be in constant contact with them if there is any need for any other equipment that could benefit the school or the community. Our PE classes will continue until October with Josh Dauer coming in and helping the teachers with PE lesson ideas and getting the children outside at least once a week. In October this may well be transferred over to the teachers so that there is a sustainable plan in place for making sure each child gets at least 1 hour of physical education each week.

The Compass Trust belongs to South Africa. Jamie, Mathili and other initiAID volunteers will help grow our program going forward and assist with the needs of the children and youth of Lavender Hill. We will continue to have our monthly board meetings and we are constantly in contact via whatsapp to make sure everything is running smoothly, and to make sure we are all going in the right direction.

So all in all, even though I will be returning to Europe, The Compass Trust continues to grow and develop. With your help, we can continue to try and make a positive impact of Lavender Hill.

Personal Note

Thank you so much to everyone that has been a part of The Compass Trust journey so far. To those who have donated, become ambassadors, sent messages of support, The Compass Trust would not exist without you and you have allowed us the platform to change people’s lives for the better. Thank you to Dave and Fiona for helping get me to SA in the first place and thank you to Ant, Surf Outreach manager for allowing me to work with children that I have known for a few years now.Thank you so much to the Principal of Levana Primary School, Andre Lamprecht. He took a massive risk in letting a 22 year old come through and try and create something in partnership with his school. I hope we have repaid his faith.

So, that’s it for me in South Africa for now! The Compass Trust is in safe hands in South Africa and I look forward to helping TCT develop and still being involved on a day to day basis, just from a few thousand miles away.

My heart is forever with Lavender Hill and my love for South Africa grows everyday. It is a beautiful country, both the nature and the people. It faces many challenges, but none that they are not capable of solving. South Africans will be the ones who change their country for the better and to help those in poverty into brighter futures. People like Jamie, like the children we have provided scholarships for, they are the future and they are the ones who will make a difference in this beautiful country they call home.

And while I will always be involved, The Compass Trust is yours, South Africa.

Always good and love to all,

Matt