The Grootbos Foundation would like to congratulate Viola on passing all of her exams!
Viola Siyotywa has completed her Higher Diploma in Adult Basic Education and Training at the College of Human Sciences. This Diploma enables her to teach and train adults.
Viola started as a Green Futures student in 2006 and has since become a facilitator in both the Green Futures and Growing the Future projects!
In a recent letter to her benefactor, Viola said:
“It is a pleasure for me to get the chance to write to you again. My year was fantastic.
I have enjoyed myself being studying and working. I feel good about myself for managing to do two things in my life, studying and working. You have supported me a lot. The peers were also very positive to me. They have encouraged me.
As a result I have passed all my assignments during the year. I have worked step by step at a time. On the 18th of October I will be writing my final exams. I’m looking forward to get good results this year as well.
I have got plans for next year. I want to see myself being in a good job and permanently employed. I am seeing myself more empowered and developed in my mind.
I want to pass what I have learnt to the other people, (to teach what I have been taught). If there are more opportunities for me to study further, I will. There are lots of things we can learn. We learn until we die!
I wish to show my appreciation for what you have done.”
Congratulations Viola! We are so proud of you!
Grootbos Foundation
Post Category: Growing the Future .
2010 was an exciting year for us at Growing the Future! We celebrated our first birthday on the 9th of August. The first intake of students also graduated this year. We faced many challenges in the field and in class, many of these we overcame and some that we are still working on at the moment. Changes have also taken place. Our new intake of students will only take place in January 2011. The school year will then fit in with the normal schedule in our country.
Fereshteh Yousefi, a master student from the University of Hohenheim visited us for six months. Apart from doing data collection on the social aspects of the students for her master thesis, she also worked with the students in their daily chores.
The students were fortunate to attend a three day beekeeping workshop at Growing the Future, which was presented by Dominique Marchand, a well-known beekeeper. We also harvested fifty kilograms of pure fynbos honey this year; that is after the baboons and the badger got to the honey before us!
Our soil in our garden is gradually building up by working compost into the soil. Our herbs are doing well in this extreme wind and some of the vegetables have also adapted to our harsh climate. We had some interesting visitors in our garden! The tortoises’ love lettuce and strawberries and the moles love opening up the roots of our plants exposing them to the elements!
An invasion to the chicken coop took place by huge black mole snakes going after the eggs. Fortunately they are easy to catch and not poisonous! We have caught five so far and have released them back into the fynbos. We have planted a big patch of lucerne so that our chickens and pigs, together with the weeds from the garden, so that they can have their greens!
The original piglets we started with have grown into big sows; they all had their first litter of piglets this year, fathered by the proud Balisto!
A big thank you to everyone who has made this year possible!
Jaco Maritz
Growing the Future Project Manager
