Visitors this month:

During the month of February we had the privilege of being visited by representatives of Forum Syd, Heidi Huusko, project officer at the Youth Fund and Enos Mwale, financial manager in Lusaka.

On the SOFIA Foundation's side we received the visit of Ida Lofstrom. Ida is now in charge of overseeing the implementation of the programme. Her involvement in the Orphan and Vulnerable Children's Programme (OVC) began when in 2006 she came to South Africa and worked as a volunteer in the programme's early stages of development.

Thank you Forum Syd and SOFIA Foundation for making this grant available to us, and for supporting the Novalis Ubuntu Insitute's mission and programmes.

February was also a busy learning month here at the Institute and as part of the monthly activities, we received the visit of several Healing Touch Teachers and Trainers from the United States.

Leading the outreach programme was Mary Frost, Certified Healing Touch practitioner and trainer. Mary has been traveling to South Africa every year, as part of an outreach programme developed in partnership with The Light Center in Kansas. Their visit, in addition to providing Healing Touch to our Programme Participants, also included a two-weekend intensive training in Healing Touch, Levels 1 and 2 where several of our facilitators and staff participated. One of the sessions included the participation of well known African Sangoma Peter von Maltitz.

Healing Touch is a series of energy-based therapy classes in which students use a variety of hands-on techniques that facilitate energy balance for wholeness within the individual, supporting physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well-being. Healing Touch is a complementary (or integrative) energy therapy that can be used in conjunction with traditional therapies. The goal of healing touch is to restore harmony and balance in the human energy system by creating an optimal environment to enable the body's innate tendency for healing to occur. For more information on Healing Touch visit www.healingtouchprogram.com