The dream catcher is most commonly associated with Native American culture. Originating from the Ojibwe people, who lived primarily in the northern USA and Canada, the dream catcher shares a story that bends the the seams between dreams and reality.
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- Dream Catchers Academy for Girls (The Happy Kids) is a non-profit Academy offering educational opportunities, leadership skills and a better life for street and underprivileged girls – through.
You too can make a difference!
Dreamcatcher volunteers really do make a difference! The communities say so: they feel it, see it and experience it. Likewise our volunteers grow and learn a lot about themselves and about the communities. Together they facilitate change which can impact on a sustainable future. Dreamcatcher volunteers are orientated and inducted into their specific community. They learn about local ways, talents and attributes already in the communities. Matched with knowledge sharing, committed involvement and dialogue they work side by side with the local communities. Collectively they make a difference. A Dreamcatcher volunteer achieves that by going truly local to walk the road with the community. You can do that too!
The best way to get the most out of your time volunteering in South Africa, is to work through an organisation that has a track record built over a period of time and who are situated in the towns and communities where the volunteer projects or the needs are.
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Dream Catcher Authentic Indian Made
The very nature of Dreamcatcher and our volunteer programme is that it must make a difference to the volunteer: critically important however is that it must make a difference to the community or project where they volunteer. If there is no legacy experienced by both the volunteer and the community they volunteer in, no one has reached their goal when they started out with the process, and the status quo remains.
We live and work in the communities every day. We therefor prefer to work directly with the volunteers to make sure that there is a good match and connection between their aspirations and that of the community. By working this way, there is no leakage of information and communication is optimised. Many volunteers therefor come to us directly, either individually or in small focus groups. They may work as a team at times, individually or with another volunteer as the project and outcomes dictate this. Some volunteers may choose to come via a volunteer agency, their university or referrals. If a volunteer chooses to be referred in this way, this is no problem. We do accept the volunteers, but only once we have developed a working relationship with the organisations referring them. In this way the volunteer “channellers” share our ethos: that of measurable impact and legacy at local level. We believe that volunteers who want to share knowledge, gain local knowledge and impact positively, help facilitate sustainable social change -and development. Volunteers who actively seek to make the world a “better place”, commit and understand this. Then they roll up their sleeves with us, get mud on their shoes, at times take a back seat to local knowledge and help that knowledge to develop with their input. They get the job of outcomes based volunteering done.
Dreamcatcher was founded over 20 years ago with a aim to make a difference to the many people of all ages, living in abject poverty and a lack of skills to improve their quality life in communities where they live. We have never changed focus. Starting out before Apartheid was dismantled, finding South African volunteers with the means to assist us to alleviate the hardship was virtually impossible! But for a hand full of senior citizens who wanted to make a difference before they passed on, recruited in the community where our founder started out, we had no one to roll up their sleeves, stay in the communities and join us to help those in dire need. Our founder would not accept that the status quo should continue so, in consultation with the community, we worked locally, but reached out globally to the many friends and contacts we had and found, to join us to make a difference. That was over 2 decades ago.
It is thus fair to say that Dreamcatcher is not an arms length “volunteer” business. We don’t do “community development by remote” in a “hit-and-miss” fashion. We don’t “do” volunteering as a business venture. Dreamcatcher was founded to make a difference to strengthen the communities who were suffering extreme hardship due to the political system, the aftermath of which still resonates daily in communities across South Africa. Volunteering the Dreamcatcher community engagement way, ensures that leakage is minimized in terms of economic benefits. 90% of the money a volunteer contributes in terms of their accommodation, meals, transport and project is channeled directly into the community in various measurable ways. Money circulating in a community addresses the leakage and the local economy and growth is the result.
Any resources and residual funds left in our bank account which is stringently audited, after paying necessary administrative costs and insurances for the local entrepreneurs, are ploughed back directly into our community development projects. Dreamcatcher is also not funded or subsidised by government or local authorities. The contributions from volunteers are channeled to projects in need and are carefully tracked. The Kamamma (community mothers’) accommodation and meal providers, put the money they generate from their services, back into their local economy, their children and their quality of life. This is part of our poverty relief focus and each volunteer thus contributes directly to the local community economy.
We live and work in the communities where volunteers go. We see our volunteers as an extended part of our Dreamcatcher family, where we work side by side to make a difference that counts. We thus have “walked the talk” and have credibility in the communities. The founder of Dreamcatcher is still a volunteer after over 2 decades and we are well known in all the many communities and over 100 projects across the country.
Volunteer postcards
We can think of no higher recommendation or delivery than that which is reflected in the stories from some of the many volunteers who have joined us and are proud of it! Likewise the reports of the impact of volunteers in the community are actively sought by us at regular community meetings and our impact is tracked. Please click and read their stories. Hopefully you too will honour us with a story of your volunteering time with us soon ☺.
You can read the postcards from other people who already volunteered with Dreamcatcher:
- Alex Pike – United Kingdom (after ten years the memories are still alive)
What kind of work can you do?
We have different kinds of projects and work in the communities. Here is an overview of the possible projects you can take part in. We can use any help we can get!
We do assist volunteers to get to know the country and its many attributes. We do that by helping them to travel and enjoy South Africa like a local. To experience the beauty, diversity and nature before or after they have volunteered with us or over weekends. Leisure time is not part of the volunteer activity. However it does not mean volunteers do not have fun! Many report that they have laughed more with the community whilst working alongside them, and learned more about the country, than ever before on a trip. Here is some more information about the volunteering program.
Project fees
Here is an overview of the project fees – what’s included and what’s not included.
More information
Here is a list of more practical information about volunteering:
If you seriously think about volunteering you might have some more questions. We have put the questions that are being asked more often in a frequently asked question list.
Interested?
If you are interested, have more questions or want us to set up a volunteering trip for you please contact us. You can contact us using the contact form or send us a travel request form so we can provide you with an amazing experience. You too can make a difference, for the people of South Africa but also for yourself.
by K Shabi PUBLISHED 14 July 2016
What is the true meaning and history behind the Native American dreamcatcher? Texas holdem poker pokerist ps4 no human. Where do dreamcatchers really come from? You've probably seen a dream catcher hanging from a tree, a porch or even in a souvenir gift shop and wondered about its purpose and meaning. Read on to learn more about the story, legend, and origins of authentic Native American dream catchers.
Authentic Native American Dream Catchers
Originally created by American Indians, dreamcatchers today come in a variety of different sizes and styles. They usually consist of a small wooden hoop covered in a net or web of natural fibers, with meaningful sacred items like feathers and beads attached, hanging down from the bottom of the hoop. Real authentic, traditional dream catchers are handmade and crafted only from all natural materials, in size measuring just a few small inches across. The hoop is traditionally constructed from a bent Red Willow branch covered in stretched sinews. Wrapping the frame in leather is another common finishing touch among 'real' dream catchers.
History of the Dreamcatcher: Ojibwe or Lakota Origins?
Today the dreamcatcher is associated with Native American culture in general, but dream catchers are often believed to have originated from the Ojibwa Chippewa tribe in particular. The Lakota tribe also has its own legend about the origins of the dreamcatcher, but most ethnographers believe the dreamcatchers were passed down from the Ojibwe through intermarriage and trade. The Ojibwe word for dreamcatcher asabikeshiinh actually means 'spider,' referring to the woven web loosely covering the hoop. The patterns of the dream catcher web are similar to the webbing these Native Americans also used for making snowshoes.
African Dream Catcher Symbols
Ojibwa Legend: The story of the Dream catcher
Ancient legends about the history and origin of the dreamcatcher exist among several Native American tribes, but are most common and seem to originate among the Ojibwe and Lakota nations. While many cultures consider spiders to be creepy crawlers, the Ojibwe people saw them in a different light, as symbols of protection and comfort. According to an old Ojibwa legend, a mystical and maternal 'Spider Woman' once served as the spiritual protector for her tribe, especially in concern to young children, kids and babies. As the Ojibwe people flourished and spread out across the land, it was difficult for The Spider Woman to continue to protect and watch over all the members of the tribe as they migrated farther and farther away. This is why she created the first dreamcatcher. Following her example, over the course of generations mothers and grandmothers continued to ritualistically recreate the maternal keepsake as a means of mystically protecting their children and families even from a distance.
African Dream By Eloise Greenfield
What do dream catchers do? Purpose & Meaning of the Dream Catcher
African Dream Catchers
Sometimes referred to as 'Sacred Hoops,' Ojibwe dreamcatchers were traditionally used as talismans to protect sleeping people, usually children, from bad dreams and nightmares. This Native American tribe believes that the night air is filled with dreams, both good and bad. When hung above the bed in a place where the morning sunlight can hit it, the dream catcher attracts and catches all sorts of dreams and thoughts into its webs. Good dreams pass through and gently slide down the feathers to comfort the sleeper below. Bad dreams, however, are caught up in its protective net and destroyed, burned up in the light of day.
Dream Catcher Meaning: Web, Feathers & Beads
All parts of the authentic Native American dreamcatcher have meaning tied to the natural world. The shape of the dreamcatcher is a circle because it represents the circle of life and how forces like the sun and moon travel each day and night across the sky. The dream catcher web catches the bad dreams during the night and dispose of them when the day comes. As for the good dreams, the feathers act as a fluffy, pillow-like ladder that allows them to gently descend upon the sleeping person undisturbed. There is some contention when it comes to the meaning of the beads that often decorate the dreamcatcher. According to some American Indians, the beads symbolize the spider—the web weaver itself. Others believe the beads symbolize the good dreams that could not pass through the web, immortalized in the form of sacred charms.
Dreamcatcher Meaning Today: Authentic Symbol or Cultural Appropriation?
Though dreamcatchers are quite common, finding real authentic dreamcatchers is not that easy today. Real handmade dream catchers are usually small in size and feature sacred charms like feathers and beads. Many dreamcatchers for sale today, however, are much more American than Native American, often oversized and constructed from cheap plastic materials. Many Native Americans still consider the dreamcatcher to be a long-standing cultural symbol of unity and identification among the many Indian Nations and First Nations cultures. Sadly, many other Native Americans have come to see dream catchers as just another cultural appropriation, over-commercialized and at times offensively misappropriated and misused by non-Natives.