After a recent three week vacation in South Africa, I couldn’t stop thinking about an article I read that talked about the countless orphans of South Africa. As soon as I told Grade 3-4 about these children who spent their Christmas in an orphanage or on the streets, everyone in class was determined to help, and they sprang into action.

Grade 3 decided to take action to help these orphans. They donated enough used and new clothing, shoes, toys and books to fill three large boxes which we donated to the TLC (The Love of Christ Children’s Home) Orphanage in Johannesburg, a home that cares for children five years and under.

Students helped sort all the donated items into two piles: one for children younger than 5, and one for children 6 years and older. The TLC Orphanage are overjoyed to know that our donations are coming - after they leave Singapore for Johannesburg on 10 March 2017.

We needed to find another good home for all our donations as the class had collected items for children older than 5 too. So we invited my South African friend Ms Micailah to join us in class as she is a Humanitarian Aid Worker in Burma. Passing through Singapore recently, Ms Micailah joined our class on 6 March, to talk about her work with mothers and children in Burma.

Our in-class journalists had prepared a series of questions so we could make the most of our class time with our special visitor, and the students learnt a lot from her visit. Ms Micailah flew back to Burma the night of 6 March and will be in touch with us once she is able to deliver all our donations for the older children.

Beaming with joy, everyone in class felt very proud of their contributions in an attempt to make our world a better place.

Recently, we received heartfelt thank you messages from the TLC orphanage. What a rewarding feedback for our Grade 3's!

Update - 16 May 2017

Grade 3-4 is excited to learn that their parcel has reached Johannesburg. The TLC Children's Home sent photos of the little ones enjoying the books and toys, and wearing the clothes. Everyone had a big smile on their face. We thank Mr Adam (Ms. Juliane's husband) for his generous donation of SGD150. His kindness and passion made it possible for us to send the box of donations to South Africa.