Reflections from Our 5th Annual Reception and Art Auction, "I Am Here"

The time for our annual art auction and reception is drawing near, and we would like to take a moment to reflect on the tremendous achievements we made at our last celebration. Our 5th Annual Benefit Reception and Art Auction I Am Here, which took place last year on December 5, 2020, was a virtual celebration honoring our collective resilience. The bi-continental virtual interactive reception and art auction was an opportunity for donors and supporters to engage with the beneficiaries of IAWA’s flagship program while experiencing South African culture. Thanks to everyone’s support, it was also our most successful fundraiser ever as we raised $15,000 more than the previous year!

Our cause serves to create a world where all youth are socially engaged, globally aware, and economically free, and this event supported turning that vision into a reality. Funds raised from the Benefit Celebration directly supported the Morafe Leadership Development Programme, which we launched earlier this year. The leadership development program provides cross-cultural immersion, trauma-informed counseling, career coaching, mentoring, and character development programming to high-school aged youth in Prince George’s County, Maryland and the Royal Bafokeng Nation who convene monthly in a virtual community. Through the production of this event, we also were able to sow approximately $7,000 dollars into black-owned businesses in South Africa and the US.

The reception, held in partnership with the Embassy of South Africa in Washington, DC, offered a combination of captivating performances, a fun atmosphere and inspirational messages that imprinted an unforgettable memory on our supporters, who were in attendance. One moment that exemplifies this is the conversation between Tshepang Motshepe, one of our youth facilitators, and Patrick Motumbo a coach for the Toronto Raptors and a featured artist in the auction. Tshepang has similar interests to Patrick, as he, too, loves art and basketball. When Tshepang asked Patrick how he balanced his love for art and basketball, he said: “I would start painting at 10 pm until 5 am in the beginning, sleep for a few hours and then go to practice and at lunchtime I would meet with my friend that is a painter and gallery owner and show him my art. He was my mentor. So I guess my love for art compelled me to work hard at it. That is what I did to get a firm base and foundation to become a better artist.”

There were so many more amazing moments which included a Mental Wellbeing Discussion with Charlamagne Tha God (The Breakfast Club), Remarks from Biso Gxashe Tutu (Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation) and Master of Ceremony RuQuan Brown (Love1), and music by DJ Holla. The Digital Silent Auction included 40 unique items, including paintings by Patrick Motumbo (Toronto Raptors), P Vilakati, and Aven Amali (Rosebank Art Market). We are grateful to these amazing, talented supporters for their contribution to the success of our 2020 reception and cannot wait for our next art auction that is coming up!

If you missed the reception, you can view it here.