Hello everyone, this is Amira. I am so excited to share with you today: the planning for 2022 of my foundation Gelukskinders. Because I am almost turning 18, I can start to play a more leading role for my Foundation. That means that this year, my foundation and I will give a lot of updates and exciting news about foundation Gelukskinders on a Facebook page that will be especially made for news about Gelukskinders. There is also a noticeably clear bookkeeping structure in which every school has its own color-coded file with all the information so that we can keep truly clear track of every single playground of the foundation. We also have a clear contract with all the schools stating everyone’s responsibilities. Next up, here are some things that can be expected from Gelukskinders this year: At the end of February, we will open a playground I Keotsipile school. Then in March we will open a playground in Boka Mosa school. Funds for both schools were regulated during the covid-19 period where no openings were allowed, since many schools were also closed for extended periods of time. The fact that these two playgrounds can be realized is because of the generous donations and support of the foundation by my dearest fans. I really want to thank you for your gratitude. We will also work on registering an NGO here in South Africa this year to make a more professional way of working possible. The opening of the preschool playground in Sonderwater at the end of March will happen with a couple of fans present that have travelled to experience playground openings and my 18th birthday streaming concert. The name of this preschool in Sonderwater is Morswedi Wa Both Kres. Funds for this playground were collected during the Christmas period. The children in Sonderwater are extremely grateful for every helping hand that made this playground possible. All playground openings will of course be like a party for the children with accompanying festivities such as lemonade and pancakes. Next up: Hessie
Hessie is a village consisting of 4 communities with about 5000 inhabitants of which there are approximately 750 children. This is where my foundation will place its third public playground. We are planning to double the size of an average playground plus one or two units for smaller children. The estimated costs for this total project would be anything between 12 and 14 000 Euro’s. The first meeting we had with the village leaders in November 2021 went very well so we can expect lovely developments. The foundation dreams big, like for example to be able to give this whole village a place to play and to realize my dream of almost 9 years ago that all children have the right to play. Of course, none of this would be possible without the hard-working foundation members that have poured their hearts into this foundation just as a lot of supporters poured their hearts into this. I am incredibly grateful to you all. Now, the netball/soccer project. The goal is that there will be a tournament every two years in which all the schools that have a playground of Gelukskinders participate in real sports uniforms. The sports you can expect are netball for the girls and soccer for the boys. Spare shirts will also be given so that a clear distinction can be seen during a match. There are currently eight schools involved. Each school would also receive 5 professional balls. There would also be small prices for all the participants and of course a trophy for the winning school. There is a stadium available in Promosa that could be used. Another possibility is a couple of soccer fields available in promosa. According to one of the principals of a school In Promosa, there could be 5000 persons attending one of these tournaments! A meeting between the foundation and the schools will be in March and we hope to start this two-yearly project in 2023 or 2024. I also think that everyone deserves an explanation as to why we decided to try this new idea. This idea was from the hard-working foundation board member: Marc van den Hout. Why I agree with his idea is because: there was a girl at one of the playground openings telling me how playing netball is her passion. Especially older children that have surpassed the age of playing in playgrounds, start to play sports. I also remember the age where that change happened. Of course, younger children also like to play sports in addition to playing in a playground. She also told me that they once tried to play a tournament against a school that did have uniforms and proper balls and how she was so excited at first but was then made fun of because they didn’t have the same. There is various research explaining exactly how important playing is for the development of a child’s brain. Whether it’s with a ball playing sports or in a playground, it is important to know that playing is not a luxury, it is a necessity. I will add a website I stumbled upon on this video in the text. This explains exactly what benefits playing behold and why playing is a necessity, not only for children that are younger than 11, but for all children’s development. The next action the foundation will have is an easter action where we would be gathering funds for the netball/soccer project and the Hessie project. I think easter is a proper time to arrange an action like this, especially if thinking about the true meaning of easter and the happiness in this season that could be given to the children. Another change that can be expected is some changes in the web shop. Currently it is difficult to manage a web shop that has items both belonging to the Foundation and to me, for example photos or DVD’s. We have done some research on how other artists and the involving foundations handle the situation and we have been getting some advice. That made us lean towards the decision to make a new website. This website would be in my name with exciting items my mother and I will design. It would also be items such as a new song I recorded that you could listen to early. The foundation will not suffer from this decision, because I would be giving my foundation 50% of the profits of the web shop. The explanation for this decision is that it was unmanageable to have such a complicated web shop set up and to try and bring it to the public in an uncomplicated way. I realize that I wouldn’t feel like myself without my foundation. The foundation is such a huge part of me and makes me so happy to see the children here in South Africa happy. The foundation will still be equally as big a part of me, just in a more organized way. I would like to conclude by thanking everyone involved for last year. In Spite of Covid-19, we still had a successful year and brought so much joy to the children in the Ikageng environment. We were also able to paint all the playgrounds and even build new ones. Jolly Jungle Gym, the supplier, was also able to check on the maintenance of all the playgrounds regularly, which will continue in the following years to come. I really don’t know how I can express my gratitude to everyone that has helped realize the dream in the children’s hearts here in South Africa. I hope that my music somewhat expresses how grateful I am. So, I hope that everyone has a blessed year with lots of love. Goodbye!
Signed: Amira
