IAWA Gives Grant to HOPE4KASIE

“When you shine your light, it will shine for those who come after you.”-Pastor Gladys Disipi,  Founder, Hope4Kasie

I Am We Are (IAWA) had the supreme pleasure of awarding the inaugural  The Pastor Jack Gaines Memorial Fund grant which supports youth missions work in South Africa.

Dr. Jack B. Gaines Sr., transitioned to eternal glory March 23, 2020. Native of Chesapeake, Virginia, USA, Pastor Gaines was one of the first African American pitchers in Major League Baseball, author of My Brother’s Keeper not My Brother’s Killer, Minister, and an an Ambassador for Global Reconciliation. He was a mentor and role model to our Founder and Chief Executive of Hope, Meisha Lerato Robinson. She met him while serving as a Peace Corps in Benin, when he was organizing the International Conference for Reconciliation and Development in Benin in 1999. He frequently encouraged Meisha to return to Africa and continue serving. This fund is of unique importance to IAWA. And it speaks to the personal calling of servant leadership that we all share.

Hope4Kasie is a non-profit founded by Pastor Gladys Disipi and her husband in hopes of helping the young people of Oukasie, Brits, North West Province, South Africa find hope and light for their future. They felt a deep responsibility to shine their light to ensure that those after them know the way. 

They speak about the impact this programme has had on the youth it serves, the smiling faces and the change in worldly perception that takes place when they are there to give them a safe place to play, be children and hope for things they did not initially know they were allowed to.

As an organization, we advocate love, light and liberation much like our founder, Meisha Lerato Robinson. And we are honored that for the first time, and hopefully not the last we are able to award these objects of love, light, and liberation to organizations with a shared mission. We are thankful to know that others see the same need in these communities that we saw and we love to watch them grow and reach more people. To share the hope and the light. 

We donated R7000 (~$500) to Hope4Kasie which has gone into gardening projects and skills training so that the youth can support themselves and their families. They also have a crochet project that up-skills young people and teaches them entrepreneurial skills. The harvest from the gardening project goes back into the community. IAWA has also donated capacity building support to their founder for a year as well as pledging to return with the IAWA Ambassadors to do community service.

 There is an old Kenyan Saying, “The child may walk faster, but the elders know the way”. As an organization that works with young people, it is in our core interest to make sure that more and more young people are socially aware, globally engaged and economically free. We see and honor you, Hope4Kasie.  We can't wait to witness all the wonder and light you will bring into the world! 

For more on the work of Hope4Kasie, see the video here on our youtube and posted below. Pastor Gladys’ shines her light to young people in Oukasie. Please leave them some hope in  the comments below.