We are proud to say that we recently hit the one year birthday of Chrysalis Project South Africa!
In many ways, the year whizzed by, but in terms of growth and change, it feels like a lot longer.
The beginnings were bumpy, to say the least. We had what we thought was a very clear vision of the type of program we wanted to develop. While the vision might have been clear, the reality was very different. It took us more than two school terms to understand what the needs were of our after-school program kids, and to even begin to address the challenges that came with those needs. It took us nearly nine months to understand our targeted young adult population. Sometimes it felt as though we were navigating through some elaborate labyrinth, turning this way and coming to a dead end, turning that and discovering a twist in the way that wasn’t anticipated.
To say it was a year of learning is an understatement — we surely learned as much as we believe our kids did.
Through our initial year, Nils and I supported many of our programs out of our own pockets. We were very lucky to have the support and generosity of a few friends, family members, family friends, and colleagues to help us along the way. We never actively solicited because we wanted to make sure that we, indeed, had programs that were solid, pedagogically sound, replicable, and addressed both the needs and desires of those we were supporting.
We’re delighted and proud to say that we now have programs that meet all the above requirements.
And now, on the heels of our first birthday, we look to our friends, family, colleagues and followers and ask if you might be able to help us continue down this path we’ve begun to pave.
While we’re tickled that our programs are growing in demand, quite frankly, we are not in a position to financially support our ever-growing programs. We need help.
We are also well aware that these are tough times for just about everyone, and we must all carefully vet those we choose to support. If you know us, or have been following us on our website or on Facebook, you know that we are, indeed, out on the field, in the trenches, and doing and creating what we say we are and will. If you can see your way toward helping our kids in any way, we’d be most appreciative.
Your donation, whatever amount it might be, goes a very long with with our kids. We invite you to visit our Campaign site at indiegogo to see some of the work we’ve done, and to see in what ways you might be able to help, including commenting, like-ing, and referring us (which puts our campaign in a brighter light so others will discover us).
And, as always, if you have questions, comments, or suggestions, we invite you to contact us.
We thank you for following us, and ask you to raise a glass of champagne, red wine, juice, or whatever your beverage of choice is and say
Happy Birthday Chrysalis Project South Africa!
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