Our Impact

Working Locally

• School Drives – Students learn that they are capable of working together to help others.  Though they are young, they have the intelligence, energy, creativity and compassion necessary to make a difference in the world.

• BLOCK Club – The club, run by students at Beaver Lake Middle School, helps motivate their fellow study body by outlining, planning, presenting, and implementing the drives at their school.  They facilitate the collecting and shipping of goods to South Africa as well as hold one fundraiser each year.
  

• Education - Local students learn about the problems that plague students in South Africa, including HIV/AIDS,  poverty, and limited educational resources.  Awareness is the first step to caring and responsibility. 

Acting Globally

• Distribution of Supplies – From the hands of children in Washington to the hands of learners in South Africa, the Generation Joy Foundation delivers the supplies collected in their school drives on an annual basis. 

• BAOBAB Fund – A scholarship fund for promising students in rural South African schools who show an eagerness for learning and dedication to completing their education.  

• Travel Program – An opportunity for students and volunteers to take their commitment one step further and to see how the work they do locally impacts learners globally.  Travelers return with inspirational stories to share with their school and community.

• Partner Schools – Building long-term relationships between local and South African schools and programs to improve and rebuild from the foundation up.

Students and staff from Beaver Lake Middle School and Anser Charter School travel to South Africa with computers for rural Zulu schools and students.

This little girl, who lives in the Himeville Lokshin, is all smiles as she receives a bike donated by a student in our community.

Lokshin Video

“The low cost housing settlement in both the small districts of Underberg and Himeville goes by the name Lokshin, for those that live there.  This district falls within an area that has one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world. 

It is within this context that Vukuzakhe, a South African HIV/AIDS intervention prevention program, began targeting the youth in an attempt to influence sexual decision making indirectly by including HIV issues in extra literacy and drama lessons.  Vukuzakhe has since joined forces with Generation Joy, an international non-profit organisation based in Seattle. 

Lokshin offers us a glimpse into the work the organisations do within the community and introduces us the people whose lives they touch.  In Lokshin it becomes apparent that change does not occur overnight, nor is it brought about through one isolated event.  We are reminded that uplifting HIV and AIDS afflicted communities requires continued and persistent effort.  Not everyone can understand the unique challenges faced by the children growing up in the Lokshin, especially within the context of HIV and AIDS. 

Lokshin is an attempt to make that connection closer.”