SPOTLIGHT EVENT !!!

The Annual Amy Biehl Foundation Gala Fundraiser – A HUGE SUCCESS & AMAZING FUN !

Held on 17 May this year at GrandWest Casino & Entertainment World in Cape Town. We are very excited and pleased to advise that, after expenses, we raised over R300 000-00 on the evening, which will go a long way towards ensuring the Foundation is able to continue & grow its programmes with the children in the townships. Some of our guests’ comments have been included, as we were extremely touched by their words.

“I just wanted to congratulate you on an amazing evening that was so well organized. It made us all proud South Africans and we all had amazing fun. Know that the gains were great and not only financial.” (Lauren Gillis)

“Wow, what a magic event!! So professional and with all the right ingredients”. (Clive Fox, Foxy Concepts)

“Thanks for a great evening – very relaxed and inspiring. You can be proud of what you have done. Keep it up”. (Cameron Dugmore, MEC Education, Western Cape)

“Karen and I had a wonderful time at the Amy Biehl Gala dinner last night - way beyond our expectations! Congratulations on a fabulous event - world class! Yvonne Chaka Chaka was excellent and we loved the Kwaito show especially and your auctioneer was terrific! We met some interesting people again - thanks to you!” (Andrew Jennings, Woolworths)

“I cannot adequately express my joy of being there brought me. Tears came to my eyes watching the children perform. I’ll always support the foundation come what may. Thank you so much for enriching my life with the joy of giving”. (Delia Nzekwu)

All Gala Pictures can be viewed at the following this Picasa link: http://picasaweb.google.com/AmyBiehlFoundation/GalaEvent2008. Photos by Adrian Baillie-Stewart - PhotoCreative

Articles and Pictures can also be viewed at the following sites: http://entertainment.bizcommunity.com/ and http://www.whatsonsa.co.za/portal/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1742&Itemid=1

The success of the evening would not have been possible without the support of our generous sponsors, listed below.

Aviva Pelham, Colin Moss & Yvonne Chaka Chaka

Adrian Baillie-Stuart - PhotoCreative , British American Tobacco, Fedics Leisure, Distell, Delheim, GrandWest Casino & Entertainment World, Hospitality Affairs, Hot Ink Print & Design, Joey Burke – auctioneer, & Sans of Time – The Band

Addis in the Cape, Aesthetics, African Sunrise B&B, Amanda Lewis - Private Chef, Anthony & Nicola Nicklin, Appletiser, Arabella Spa at the Westin Grand Cape Town Arabella Quays, Botlierskop Private Game Reserve, Beluga Restaurant, Carrol Boyes, Chanel Perfume, The Chocolate Studio, City of Cape Town, Colourworks, Cosmos Guest House, Cummings Guest House, Design-a-Balloon, Dogon Group, Dolphin Cottage, Evenovation, Exclusive Books Waterfront, FNB Private Clients, Future Exotics, Gallop Hill Wine & Polo Estate, Greenways Hotel, GRS Limousines, Horst & Rita Boes, Hertz Car Hire, House of Vanilla, Jenny Morris - Giggling Gourmet, KGK Jewel, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Kwa Maritane, Lindt, Hertz Car Hire, House of Vanilla, La Rochelle B&B, Lagoon Beach Hotel, Lanzerac Spa & Wellness Centre, Lauren Gillis, Le Quartier Francais, Lulu Tan Tan, Madame Zingara, Maestro's on the Beach Restaurant, Marimba Restaurant, Mason Office Solutions, Mecer, Media 24, Midrand Conference Centre – Dr. Matisonn, Mike Bassett & Richard Carstens of Ginja & Myoga Restaurants, Mooikelder Manor House, The Mount Nelson Hotel, Murray & Roberts, National Brands Ltd, Nedbank, Omar Valley, On Broadway, Platteklip Lodge, The Poker Room, Protea Hotels: North Wharf & Saldanha Bay, Pzazz Hair Salon, Quarter Deck Restaurant, Rani Resorts, Reeds Delta, Relais Hotels, ReservHotels -Veron Kristen, Rikkis Taxis, River Bend Game Lodge (Addo Elephant Park), Romanian Consul General, SA Airlink, Shimansky Jewelers, Side Car Adventures, Simonsvlei Wines, SOUL Magazine, Taga Sound & Lighting, Tri-Linear Investment, Twelve Apostles Hotel & Spa, Vineyard Hotel, Wellness Warehouse, Winchester Mansions Hotel, Wisdom of Africa & Serenite Spa & Woolworths.

What an exciting year it has been so far! We have continued to develop and empower 1000’s of youth in the townships, weave a barrier against violence, HIV Aids, crime, and drugs, giving children hope and a brighter future through educational & cultural activities. We offer them healthy alternatives to all the negative influences, whilst creating future leaders, entrepreneurs and well-rounded global citizens. We continue to run various programmes for these youth aged 5 – 18 every week, covering:

After School Care * Music (violin, recorders, brass band, marimba, guitars, choral singing & opera) * HIV/AIDS Prevention & Awareness * Greening & Environment * Creative & Fine Arts (drama, dance: modern, traditional, ballet, kwaito, painting, crafts, sketching, drawing & beading * Sport (golf at Khayelitsha Golf Driving Range, soccer, cricket, hockey, table tennis, swimming & diving) * Youth Reading Role Model Literacy

Sports Programme
Khulani Beach Soccer:
In April, 25 children played games, enjoyed lunch and goody bags, on Muizenberg Beach, as part of the great relationship we have with Sporting Chance.
Amy Biehl Soccer Cup 2008:
This tournament took place in March in Nyanga between 8 neighbouring schools. Each school selected 15 athletes to play at the tournament amongst 120 participants. The winning school, Nomlinganiselo Primary, received a trophy & R800. The Day was a great success & we hope to expand the tournament next year.
Hockey Festival:
Our children participated in a Hockey Festival in Hartleyvale in April, the first time the girls from Zimasa Primary in Langa & Edendale Primary in Manenberg played together as a team, with games over two days. It was a wonderful bonding experience for the girls who enjoyed spending time together & even composed a new cheer for their team!
In Other News:
We have created an inter-school hockey league with 16 girls from Langa and Manenberg. The girls attend practices & games twice a week preparing for a visit from the Northern Irish Lurgan Junior Ladies Team in August.
Our Diving programme with Dolphins Diving Club &Bev Mallows & team at Newlands, for 10 children from Crossroads weekly, has been exciting. With winter here certificates were handed out at Qingqa Primary.

After School Programme
New After School Centre Opens:
With support from the Omprakesh Foundation & BATSA we were able to open our 3rd Centre in Guguletu at Siyasingiza & John Pama Primary Schools reaching a further 240 children, offering music, dance, sport & beading. There is a huge need & demand for us to open more After School Centres and our vision is to open 4 more by the end of 2009.
Arts:
Beading Classes have started at the After School Centres since April, which has quickly become popular. They have already learnt to make beaded pens, HIV/AIDS ribbons, spectacle chains & now necklaces and bracelets, which is very exciting. This class is only possible thanks to the generosity & support of Bead Merchants of Africa.
In March, Daisy Kates, a volunteer from the USA, taught pottery at our After School Centres. With her experience & creativity, the children made masks, bowls, & pots out of clay, which was later painted, glazed & ready for use!
ArtVenture Holdings support has enabled us to really grow our Creative Arts Programme.
Dance:
10 of our children are taught ballet weekly at the UCT Ballet School & 10 at the Zama Zama Dance School in Guguletu.

Youth Reading Role Model Programme
In February we held reading workshops at 15 schools, teaching older learners to teach younger learners how to read, and demonstrating the importance of reading. This semester, the programme focused on grade 6 & 7 learners at St Mary’s Primary School in Nyanga. Our facilitators and volunteers read aloud with the children, building confidence, increasing their vocabulary and comprehension on a bi-weekly basis. The learners are currently reading ‘Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets’ which has truly captured their imagination. We will be starting a competition from the beginning of August in partnership with Media 24, having a ‘Best Reader’ Award. We hope to create healthy competition among our young learners and instilling in them a love for reading.

Music Programme
The Hugo Lambrecht Music Centre, in Parow, doubled the number of our children to 23, that we transport weekly, from Nyanga, teaching brass, woodwind, string, & percussion. Our weekly trips to Bishops for violin & guitar lessons continues with 37 learners. Titia & Mike are amazing teachers who accompany the children to events & performances, taking time out of their personal lives. We could not do the outreach programmes without the vehicle kindly donated by Reeds Motor Group and transport by Golden Arrow. Our outreach programmes have grown so successfully, we are now urgently looking to secure a 2nd vehicle.
Bob Sinacrope visited the Foundation and facilitated a partnership between the Foundation and UCT Music School who then sponsored a week long workshop for our learners.
Talisman, a group of singers from Stanford University in California, USA visited us and worked with our children. Talisman performs culturally substantive music throughout the world. Our Junior and Senior Choirs were privileged to work with Talisman, learning a whole new variety of songs. The internationally acclaimed group was a highlight of the music programme this semester.
We have been fortunate to receive musical instruments as donations since January, including guitars (Mrs Roger & Melanie Davids) and a piano on loan (Adrian Van Stolk). Mario Sibum & Heike Busch, from Germany formed Capekids & donated R50 000 towards our music programmes, which include repairs to our brass instruments. We welcome all musical instruments at the Foundation. Please contact Melanie@amybiehl.co.za if you have any instruments lying around not being utilized & can be donated to the Foundation. We have a long list of instruments still needed.
Horst & Rita Boes held their birthday party and in lieu of gifts asked for donations towards the Foundation. We were extremely grateful & excited to receive R10 000 from them; and in addition, they sponsored 120 performance t-shirts and 22 colourful fleece jackets for the choir.
On Saturdays, Adrian Van Stolk & his team from St. Michaels Church in Rondebosch, have been teaching up to 20 youths guitar in New Crossroads. In July, we will be expanding the guitar programme to 30 children in the week & the Saturday programme which will include: pottery, marimba & sports.

Greening & Environmental Programmes
Gardening Projects:
Lucinda, our Programme Co-ordinator, now teaches community members from St. Gabriel’s Church, in Guguletu lessons & techniques in gardening, as well as, business skills, relationship building, & monetary advice like saving.
As part of our relationship & the contribution from Mario and Heike, in Germany, we are in partnership with Hillside Primary to develop a brand new sports field in Bishop Lavis for them.

Food Tents:
In May, thanks to the Lewis Group, we were able to erect a Food Tent at Mkanyeseli Primary School in New Cross Roads, housing various produce, which will be sold to the community, enabling the school to bring in revenue. The Food Tent is helping to grow 400 spinach plants, with plans for lettuce, cabbage, & pumpkin. We look forward to rolling out the next food tent with the Lewis Group soon.

HIV/AIDS Prevention Programme
Our programme educates students in the townships about the dangers, causes and prevention of HIV/AIDS through peer education. Peer Educators are high school students who are educated, counselled and trained and then in turn counsel and train younger primary school children. Dr Jeremy Taylor, a recent graduate, has been working every Monday with the children, together with other volunteers like Maggie Chen from Stanford University, Gia Benator, Margie Clarke, & David Agranat from Herzlia High School. Dr Stephen Marcus & Barbara Kroll, from The Lindwall Foundation “Freedom Through Releasing” worked with the youth. They organized a series of workshops, adding much value and information to our enthusiastic learners.

Tik Prevention Programme
We are pleased to announce that we will soon launch a new Tik Prevention Programme thanks to GoodHope FM who will be running the Best of Cape Town Awards. All the proceeds from the SMS voting system will be given to the Amy Biehl Foundation to run this new programme. So get your SMS voting going for the Best of Cape Town Awards! Also visit www.goodhopefm.co.za/best_of_ct_awards/index.jsp

Recent Happenings
Performances:
Our choir performed at Aviva Pelham’s Diamond Diva Celebration at Artscape in January & in April. The evenings were a great success. With every performance, our children noticeably had a boost in their self-esteem, becoming more confident and outgoing. Aviva Pelham works tirelessly with our children, growing them and exposing them to audiences.
Our choir, guitar, marimba, violin & brass band children performed to over 700 at the Table of Peace and Unity in April. Our choir were excited to be able to sing 2 songs with Archbishop Desmond Tutu for the guests.

Events:
During the year end school holidays, we were grateful to be involved in the Pick N Pay Calypso Beach Cricket Festival, through the partnership with Sporting Chance. The Beach Cricket Festival promoted the importance of a healthy and active lifestyle through sport. Our Dance facilitator, Masixole Dudula, accompanied the touring festival playing drums.
The production of Mirror Mirror, held at the Baxter Theatre in February was part of a fundraising effort, in which a percentage of all ticket sales went to the Amy Biehl Foundation.
Lions International honoured Fikile Mxinga (13 years old, from our Art Programme in, Crossroads) a finalist for their Peace Poster Competition in a ceremony at St George’s Cathedral in January (World Day of Peace).
In February, 36 of our children participated in an Outward Bound 3 day Leadership Camp in the Hottentots Nature Reserve, working on teambuilding and skills which they can take with them into the future.
In April we held an Art and Dance Exhibition at the V&A Waterfront, which was very successful. The children were able to show their outstanding talent in Marimba’s, Traditional dance, Brass Band and new beading skills.
Jean Suffield & Judy Hatswell from Canada did a wonderful leadership workshop with our staff.
Thanks to Taft school & Greg Ricks in Connecticut USA, Kevin Chaplin, Linda Biehl & Easy Nofemela were able to address the School for the Martin Luther King Day Celebrations and also address School of the Holy Child, The Masters School and City Year. Thanks to Eric Jenkinson, Kevin Chaplin was able to visit Northern Ireland, address the children of Lurgan, some schools, attend a fundraiser at Hillsborough Castle & also be the guest of the Youth Justice Agency, who have an outstanding model of dealing with young offenders, and who we are looking to partner with.

In April, South Africa honoured Linda Biehl by presenting her with the O.R. Tambo Award for her “outstanding spirit of forgiveness and contributing to the promotion of non-racism in post-apartheid Africa”(The President’s Office). Linda received the award from President Thabo Mbeki on April 22nd, in Pretoria. We are all honoured & truly grateful for the contribution Linda and her husband Peter have made - our heartfelt and deepest thanks to these amazing people!!!

Upcoming Events

June:
Launch of the Amy Biehl Youth Spirit Award, in partnership with Coca-Cola. Designed to bring recognition to the youth of South Africa who have gone out of their way to create positive change to their communities and/ or the world at large. Application forms have been distributed to high schools, in the media and are available in the office.

July:
A further school holiday programme will be held in July consisting of a 3 day camp, 5 day sports clinic at UCT and a 10 day programme at Nomlinganiselo Primary School in Crossroads. Thanks to The Lewis Group, who has sponsored funds towards the July camp at Eagles Nest, in Franschhoek, a wonderful location for leadership and adventure programmes. Emphasis on developing team building, outdoor knowledge, camping skills & gaining a new appreciation for the natural environment & a great variety of sporting activities including a climbing wall, abseiling & one of the longest zip lines in Cape Town. If you would like to sponsor a child for future camps, the cost is R300 per child for 3 days. This includes meals, transportation, accommodation & the many outdoor adventure activities. Our banking details are at the end of the newsletter. Please reference ‘Camp’ & your name when making a donation.

23rd August, 2008:
We will be holding the Amy Biehl Commemoration Event and Youth Spirit Award in partnership with Coca-Cola at Marimba Restaurant, CTICC from 5-7 pm. Archbishop Desmond Tutu & Linda Biehl, will be awarding one youth with the Amy Biehl Youth Spirit Award. Please email kaley.spragge@gmail.com to make your bookings.

Our exciting Northern Irish & Amy Biehl Foundation Hockey Academy from August 10 – 18th, 2008 as the Lurgan Junior Ladies Hockey Club from Northern Ireland work with us furthering the township girls hockey skills through a variety of practices and teambuilding skills. This year 16 young girls and 11 adults are coming out to SA to work with our girls from Langa and Manenberg. These girls have spent many months raising the money to fund this trip to SA, doing a variety of activities, such as, cake sales, car washes and selling calendars. Thank you to all of you, Eric Jenkinson, Jenkinson Consulting & Gerry McKinney who generously supports our foundation every year.

From 24-31 August, 16 Amy Biehl Foundation Hockey girls from Manenberg & Langa are being sponsored to travel to Ireland for further training. Thanks to the Northern Ireland Hockey group and grateful thanks to Raymond Acheson for sponsoring this once in a lifetime opportunity for our girls.

Charity Book Sale at Cavendish Square August 28-31st, with all proceeds going to the Amy Biehl Foundation Youth Reading Role Model Programmes. If you have any used books, you can donate, please contact us, (021) 462-5052.

Other Foundation News
For Sale:
“Adi and the Dragons” books @ R100 each. A wonderful children’s book and successful fundraising opportunity, thanks to Kobus Olivier, the author. Unfortunately, we were devastated when Kobus Olivier passed away suddenly in April. What a great man! Kobus had almost completed an educational juggling DVD to raise funds for the foundation.
“Indigo Man: Finding My Gift”, books @ R 180 each, generously donated by Author, Clive Harvey-Fox. Both books are on sale at the office. If you would like to purchase either book, please contact us at info@amybiehl.co.za

To view more items for sale, please click on the link http://picasaweb.google.com/AmyBiehlFoundation/Store

Wolftime Training:
The Foundation has a partnership with Wolftime Training which brings valuable income through workshops booked. Please see attached for the next workshop on 30 July.

Foundation Staffing Updates

Welcome to *Melanie Davids, Music Programme Co-Ordinator *Faizel Peterson, After School Co-ordinator. *Joanna Barry, HR, Intern & Volunteer Coordinator and Facilitators: Narwele Kulasande (African Dance), Nomthandaazo Batha (Contemporary Dance), Mandlesiwe Lufete (Drama), and Vuyelwa Motheane (Traditional Dance)
Farewell and a well deserved retirement for Isabel Kerr.

Volunteers
We have had so many wonderful young people coming from a variety of countries in the past 6 months. Some stay for a week, some a few weeks, some a month and some a few months. Regardless, these eager individuals all strive to learn, gain new experiences, give to those less fortunate, and to make a difference in the lives of others.

South African Volunteers
*Jeremy Taylor, a recent UCT Medical Graduate, our first SA volunteer to facilitate in the HIV/AIDS Programme for high school youth in Crossroads. *Joanna Evans in Drama & Art *David Taylor, Stellenbosch University in sport *Gia Benetar, Margie Clarke & David Agranat from Herzlia High School *Pinkie Pantshwa, in sport.

Cape Peninsula University of Technology: Several students from CPUT elected to work with the Foundation this semester in various positions, including PR (Shamiela Daries), Sports (Akhona Mvankwendlu& Mbeko Norushu) & Second Year Office Management Students, in which we supported them through one of their practical projects.

Foreign Volunteers
Kristen Bloom, USA (Music) * Maggie Chen, USA (HIV Peer Education) * Christoph Zilligen, Germany (Sport) * Bente Lien Nilsen, Norway (Research & Fundraising) * Christina Luchetta, USA (Youth Reading Role Model) * Lydia Onimo, USA (Music) * Christina Oniszko, USA (Office) * Stephi Pongratz, Austria (Youth Reading Role Model & Office) * Max Potter, USA (Fundraising) * Shannon Raj, USA (Sport)* Agnes Sokol, USA (Fundraising) * Kaley Spragge, Canada (Events &Fundraising) * Daisy Kates, USA (Art)

Visitors
* Various Tour Groups from Canada, Germany, USA, Austria and the United Kingdom * Brad Higgins, Assistant Secretary Department of State, Washington * Marquette University *American Council on Education USA * Pick N Pay Ladies in Red * Semester At Sea Students, USA * Stanford University Alumni, USA * TAFT School, USA *University of Miami, USA*Talisman, Stanford, USA * International Laureate Scholar Prog, USA

Linda Biehl’s Schedule
Linda, Co-founder and Director, works hard spreading the message of Ubuntu, reconciliation and forgiveness in the USA and in Cape Town, South Africa. This year, Linda has had a very busy schedule including a trip to South Africa in May, as well as, dozens of speaking engagements in the United States:

Schools on the East Coast of USA, connecting with both Easy Nofemela and Kevin Chaplin * Arizona State University, USA * “Facing history and ourselves”, in New York, USA with Ntobeko Peni, our Programme Manager and Easy Nofemela, our Sports Facilitator. * St. Louis Events * Amy Biehl High School Events in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA * Institute of Interpersonal Psychology (Paloalto, CA) * St. Michael’s Church (Corona Del Mar, CA), USA * Ron Brown School Events (Washington, DC), USA * City Year (Washington, DC), USA * Human Rights High School Group (Irvine, CA), USA * UMASS Lowell (Boston, USA) * Joined by Ntobeko: speaking engagements throughout the state * University of Texas Speech, USA * Cape Town (Speaking with the International Laureate Scholar Programme and students from all over the world, reading to youth in the township schools and much much more).

How You Can Help

Make a once–off donation or a monthly debit order:
Request a debit order form from us to complete and return. You can also send a cheque or make a direct electronic transfer to our bank account (details below) R150 per month or R 1800 pa / $250 pa / Euros 180 pa pays for 1 child! Please help us make that difference.


Sign up for a My Village card:
We will send you the application form, nominating the Amy Biehl Foundation as a beneficiary & by simply going about your normal shopping habits and swiping your card at the partners, you can benefit the Foundation. The MyVillage card is free, is not a debit or credit card and there is absolutely no fee involved. All you have to do is remember to use it at participating retailers e.g. Woolworths, Waltons, Spur, Toys R Us, Kalahari.net, SupaQuick, Reggies, Engen, & many more.

Buy Amy’s Bread:
Buy Amy's Bread (Blue Ribbon) sold in both brown & white, at any Pick ‘n Pay store in the Western Cape. 4% of every purchase goes directly to the Foundation to help support our programmes. By buying Amy's bread you are helping us to make a difference!

Give As You Earn:
Companies can offer their employees the opportunity to make a monthly donation to the Foundation through a “Give As You Earn” programme. For this to take place, companies can contact Afiefa Behardien on 021 462 5052.

Bequests:
Remember the Amy Biehl Foundation in your Last Will and Testament.


Take the Amy Biehl Cultural Township Tour and/or encourage visitors to take the tours:
The best rates in Cape Town and visitors get to experience and interact with the children in the various activities described.
“Inspiring…motivating… captivating…life changing….” Some of the words used by visitors to describe the tour.
Contact Glenn on 082 887 7998
E-mail: tours@amybiehl.co.za


Banking Details:
Name: Amy Biehl Foundation Trust
Bank: First National Bank
Branch: Adderley Street
Branch Code: 201409
Account Number: 62085677890
Swift Code: FIRNZAJJX