Steven Lurie, brother of honored South African teacher Tracey Lurie-Sklar, speaks to some of the 5K runners.

Sunday was a special day.

Not only was it Nelson Mandela’s birthday, but also the annual Run for Teachers—a benefit 5K run in honor of Tracey Lurie-Sklar.

Tracey was a teacher who loved literature and poetry. She was an excellent athlete who’s inspired and passionate life served her English Lit students in Atlanta, Georgia, until her death in 2008 at 46 years old.

Upon her death, Tracey’s brother—Steven Lurie—began conceiving a tribute to her life. To honor the family upbringing in South Africa, and Tracey’s love for both teaching and sports, Steven devised the 5K Run for Teachers event and selected Teach with Africa as the beneficiary.

Sunday—the day the Nelson Mandela Foundation asked all citizens to donate 67 minutes to community service—was a gorgeous race day in San Francisco.

While this year’s Run for Teachers took place (with the largest field of runners yet), our current TwA fellows in South Africa were representing us across the world.

“Today we’re making a global connection,” said Executive Director Amy Schoew at the race awards ceremony. “Because of your support, we’re all a part of this worldwide movement for positive change.”

A special day, indeed.

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Monday 5/17/10 – I was frustrated, not sure about my goal to bring a student from Africa here to attend college.  Wondering if it will work and if I am doing the right thing.  How can I ensure the selected student will graduate?  How can I be sure the student will return to Africa?  How can I be certain that the student will be a good steward of Mandy’s legacy, memory, and philosophy?  I decided to send a prayer request into www.air1.com .  I asked that they pray for God to let me know if I was following the right path, and if I was following the correct path for me to have the strength and patience to keep plugging along.

Tuesday 5/18/10 – Feeling better after I let go of the worry.  I had a busy day at work.  Got an odd invitation to an event on Face Book and since I was busy I almost deleted it but then I decided save it and to open it later. Read the rest of this entry »

Cafe COCOMO in San Francisco (voted 3rd best Salsa Club in the country!) has been kind enough to donate 1/3 of its door proceeds to Teach with Africa, on the evening of December 5th.

How to participate:  Click the link below and print out the flier.  Bring it with you to Cafe COCOMO (address on the flier) on December 5th at 7pm.  1/3 of your door cover will be donated to Teach with Africa.  It’s as easy as that.

We hope to see you there!

http://teachwithafrica.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/flierfordanceevent.pdf

Teach with Africa has partnered with Macy’s and is selling special Shopping Passes for $5 each. TWA keeps 100 percent of the proceeds! Contact Amy at 415-412-7400 or amy@teachwithafrica.org to purchase your $5 pass. Read the rest of this entry »

Support Teach with Africa while you celebrate life with an award-winning bottle of Windsor Vineyards wine! On the weekend of June 26-28, the Windsor Vineyards Tasting Room in Tiburon will be contributing 10% of your purchase price to Teach With Africa. (Read on to learn about the custom Teach with Africa wine label!)

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what you’ll think of
when i say 
“the torn blanket of sleep” 
might surprise both of us.

what you’ll be reminded of 
when i describe a bowl of soup
might make us laugh or cry.

our reveries, 
the color of the trees,
the names of our parents,
a word for pain,
will come to us in the same way
but they will tell a different tale. 

when we dream, 
whatever that dream contains, 
we will both be dreaming.
and whatever is the first thing to greet us in the morning, 
we both will have to open our eyes.

i tell myself
these things now
because you are so strange.
and because you are
foreign and unknown,
i know
i cannot see you.

it’s clear  
that because i’m frightened of you,
i’m blinding myself
with my own precocious understanding.

do me a favor,
will you?
stop me.
look at me.
help me accept the wisdom 
that not knowing is most intimate.

– gene alexander

Some supporters of Teach with Africa are already involved in social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Are you in the thick of this, or are you wondering what they’re all about?

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Just a brief posting to let everyone know that we had an incredibly successful Inaugural Event on February 7th in San Francisco, with 200+ attendees and over $50,000 raised for Teach with Africa!  We also made some wonderful new contacts and met deeply committed supporters who clearly believe in our mission and are willing to offer significant resources to insure our longevity.  We are enormously grateful to all who made this possible.