In December 2005 we had a fantastic end of year tennis tournament with impressive results. We entered 13 players in a tournament located in Swakopmund and for the first time in MYO’s history, we had a winner/runner-up in every age group.

Warren Frewer and his assistant Dolfie organized a tennis clinic in mid-December. The normal charge is N$270/child, but Warren waived his usual fee and sponsored thirteen MYO players. Thank you Warren! In addition, four MYO students were awarded scholarships to attend Warren’s Tennis Academy in 2006. Scholarship winners, based on performance, were Paulina Shikongo, Placido Gertze, Ndeshipanda David, and Warren Rooi. Warren feels these players have great potential and has generously offered to assist with their future tennis development.

Our first tennis tournament in 2006 was in Windhoek and we had 9 participants from MYO. It was a challenging start to the new tennis season but Paulina Shikongo and Frieda Mukufa made it through to the semi-finals before being eliminated.

We have added 30 MYO tennis participants in 2006. Both Julian (assistant coach) and I are looking forward to working with these players --one of the new members, Marchiano Blaauw, already is showing great potential.

Shannon Taylor – Academic Program Manager

Our MYO 2006 academic program is up and running. We added thirty grade 4 students to the program, and it has been exciting to meet all the new children. Based on our introductory parent meeting in which 26 out of 30 parents/guardians attended, the support for MYO in the local community is strong. Several of the parents had previously heard about MYO and were very enthusiastic and proud that their child was chosen to participate.

MYO's 2006 Grade 4 students

This year is already very busy. We have a total of 70 kids coming daily to our facility and we have added many new features to our academic program. In addition to our standard educational program focusing on mathematics and English classes, we have added computer classes and homework-help sessions for our grade 6 students. Because academic demands increase as children develop and progress, we feel these additions will be integral to their scholastic success. Homework-help sessions allows additional focus with their schoolwork and gives the children access to resources they do not have at home to complete their assignments. Furthermore, early access to computers will better prepare them for secondary school and help provide potential job skills in the future.

With our hectic schedule this year and our commitment to involving the local community; we have implemented a volunteer program that teaches local community secondary-school students to mentor and help our MYO children. After speaking with the secondary-school principals in Swakopmund, we hosted our first volunteer meeting. We were overwhelmed and excited by the fantastic turnout of about 100 secondary-school students who were interested in donating their time to MYO. These students will assist with a variety of activities such as homework-help sessions, computer classes, music classes, and assisting with tennis.

I want to give a BIG THANKS to the students of Harbor View Elementary in Charleston, South Carolina. During the recent holidays they organized a book drive and collected over 500 books for the MYO library. Our library is a critical component of our ongoing academic program and getting appropriate academic materials is essential. Please contact me directly if you are interested in sending literary materials to MYO. The US-postal system provides M-bag service which allows educational materials to be mailed internationally for US$1/lb.

We are off to great start this year and I will keep you posted on all the upcoming MYO activities in 2006.

Lisa Chee - MYO Board Member

In Australia, we are continuing to spread the word about Mondesa Youth Opportunities and the great achievements we have made with the kids in our program.  I can honestly say that it is extremely rewarding to be involved—to help our kids receive a basic level of education & opportunity that we take for granted here.  I find it very exciting speaking to people about our great work and have them come on board—to either sponsor a child or contribute their own time to help our cause.  Just thinking about the 70 kids in our program this year makes me realise how much we have progressed in just 3 years.  Needless to say I am very, very excited about my return trip to Swakopmund later this year. 

I would like to welcome Bouk and Martijn (who are originally from the Netherlands) to our Australian team.  Our main initiative will be a fund-raising dinner to be held in Sydney in April.   If you have any prizes that you or your business can donate for our raffle on the night, please contact us as this would be a huge contribution to our fund raising.  We would love to have you and your friends join us. We will announce the venue, date and other details to you over the next month.  Otherwise, please do not hesitate to contact us directly.