Do you remember our christmas shoebox campaign? In August we started building partnerships with local companies and private donors to bring a christmas surprise to our children. Finally, in December, the work was done!

With the help of many volunteers from AMMISH and our wonderful partners we prepared Meadowlands Zone 3 Hall (Bapedi) for the special event. On arrival the kids were stunned to find huge jumping castles, delicious meals and even comedians from EMS Crew for their entertainment. You should have seen those sparkling eyes!

To make an even greater impact in our community we also invited 100 Gogo’s to join us and the kids. For AMMISH it is very important to involve all ages in our programmes to strengthen solidarity and support in the society. Grandmas are the pillars of our families – everything that benefits them will be forwarded to us through their love and care.

After some speeches, food (KFC for the kids and professional catering for the older ones) and entertainment we eventually started distributing the presents. To be fair all children got the same items – clothes in different sizes of course. Everyone was gifted a pair of shoes, stationary, a new attire (trousers and t-shirts) and some nice, tasty Simba Chips to make them happy. All content was chosen to be useful and sustainable (ok, forget about the Chips ), because we want our interventions to have a long lasting effect. To also reach the most needy families in our community all gogo’s were given food parcels and warm blankets to bring home.

All in all we are drawing a very positive conclusion regarding our christmas event. It was a lot of work, but led to many joyful children and consolidated the bond between the community and AMMISH as an organization. Nevertheless we were hoping to be able to delight even more of our beneficiaries – which are more than 3500 at present. But we had to realize the difficulties of organizing such a big event and finding enough partners and voluntary support. Well, we are experienced now and will never give up or stop learning. Next time, we are even better prepared!

THANK YOU

All this would not have been possible without the active support of our friends and partners. A big thank you goes to Mr. Michael Sun, MMC for public safety at the city of Joburg. Host and funder of the whole event was Mrs. Li Potgieter from China South Africa Health Foundation, we’re so greatful for your aid! Mrs. Ouma Morodi and Mr. Tsediso Monareng represented JMPD at our event – how could you feels safer than in their presence? The mascot and the people from EMS crew made this special day a great deal funnier, you were awesome :). Last but not least we want to send a special thank you to our German friend Tabea (and all her supporters) who spared no effort and did a lot of fundraising thousands of kilometres away. And of course: Thank you AMMISH Staff, you carry this organization every day!

May you all be blessed!

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