"I believe that to meet the challenge of our times, human beings will have to develop a greater sense of universal responsibility. We must all learn to work not just for our own self, family, or nation but for the benefit of all humankind. Universal responsibility is the key to human survival. It is the best foundation for world peace, the equitable use of natural resources, and through concern for future generations, the proper care of the environment."
—The Dalai Lama
Our growing network of affiliates are dedicated to being of one mind and heart. We share resources, collaborate, and together are committed to many forms of selfless service in our efforts to alleviate suffering and assist with the awakening of the global heart. We perceive the global heart to be the interconnectedness of all life through tolerance, equality and compassion.
Seeds of Light South Africa
Seeds of Light South Africa (SOLSA) is a Non Profit Organisation, made up of a group of volunteers who receive no payment for their work. Their aim is to support orphans and vulnerable children. Their main focus is education, not only for children of all ages but also for their caregivers. It is SOLSA's intention to build trust in order to facilitate giving the children a platform which allows them to successfully enter mainstream employment.
The mission of SOLSA is to make the skills, experience and resources of our membership and network, available to vulnerable children. SOLSA does this in an effort to source, develop and implement sustainable solutions to South Africa’s current socio-economic challenges.
It is SOLSA's visionto facilitate and particpate in transforming and ending the current HIV/AIDS pandemic in South Africa. The socio-economic effects of the pandemic, particularly affect the children, making it difficult for them to integrate into society. It is almost impossible for these children to find their dignity and be accepted and respected in society, when they have been marginalized through poverty and deprivation.
The Global White Lion Protection Trust
The African people hold rare White Lions as sacred beings, humanity’s guardians during times of global transformation. Their natural and spiritual homeland is the Timbavati region of South Africa, neighboring the famous Kruger National Park, not far from Seeds of Light’s center.
In the 1970s several snow-white lion cubs were born into a wild, golden pride in Timbavati. Unfortunately the cubs were captured and bred for financial gain, for zoos, circuses, and as canned hunting trophies. Consequently, white lions have been extinct in the wild since 1993.
The Global White Lion Protection Trust is changing this. They are dedicated to protecting and preserving these sacred and beautiful animals through a scientifically proven re-introduction program designed to release white lions back into their natural habitat in the Timbavati area. White lions are not albinos, but exhibit a rare, recessive gene, which may date back to an earlier ice age.
Seeds of Light and the Global White Lion Protection Trust have collaborated on projects for many years. Seeds of Light supports the GWLPT’s mission: to protect white lions, which are at great risk from aggressive speed-breeding programs and trophy hunting, and to help preserve the indigenous knowledge that holds them sacred. Go to www.whitelions.org to learn more about their projects.
Seeds of Light and the Global White Lion Protection Trust have also collaborated on an inspiring project with the children of Acornhoek who participate in Seeds of Light’s music program. With our direction, the children developed a musical theater piece about the white lions and had the extraordinary honor of performing their play for Nelson Mandela at a private audience in Johannesburg, a rare experience that has uplifted and changed their lives forever.
White Lion Fundraising Calendar Information
Unity of Tustin’s Seeds of Light Global Outreach Team
The global outreach team is a group of committed individuals from the Unity Church of Tustin, California, who were originally inspired to assist Seeds of Light with fundraising when they learned from Leslie Temple-Thurston in 2001 about the plight of the children affected by HIV/AIDS in her native land, South Africa. They started by bringing their "pickle jar" money to each of their monthly meetings to send to the children. However, this did not satisfy their calling to help in more ways, and they made a commitment to expand their efforts.
Their fund raising has continued, and they have found many ways to support the children: selling Christmas cards, walking for Seeds of Light at the local Walk for Hope, having bake sales, and offering Mother's Day luncheons at their church. They also helped raise $13,000 for Seeds of Light with a jogathon through a local school in their area. They have expressed how incredibly grateful and blessed they feel to be a part of Seeds of Light’s inspired dream. Knowing that children are being fed, clothed, educated, nurtured by loving hands and becoming self-sustaining citizens who can make a difference in the lives of their friends and neighbors, is the gift that they receive from this work.
They invite other inspired individuals or groups to contact their founder, Shirley Martin, at
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especially if someone is interested in forming a similar group. They would be happy to help with the process and share some of the important lessons they have learned along the way.
