Education South Africa Project #15130

Lifeskills for 8 children in South Africa - Pilot

A microproject by Keep The Dream196

Lifeskills for 8 children in South Africa - Pilot

Project Report | Nov 12, 2020
Teenage Suicide and KTD196

By Louise | Jack of all trades, master of none!

Thank you, thank you THANKYOU for all of your continued concern and support for the children we serve. You have helped us help so many people through Covid which is huge. Welcome to all the new friends that have come on board this last week. You are more than welcome to leave messages or ask questions and I will endeavour to get back to you ASAP.

With Covid continuing on its path of destruction officials are starting to realise the impact of isolation due to Covid lockdown and the toll it is taking on people’s mental health. I read only yesterday that 40% of people post infection suffer from depression. The cause unknown.

According to WHO (World Health Organization), a suicide occurs every 40 seconds and an attempt is made every 3 seconds. In South Africa the average suicide is 17.2 per 100 000 (8% of all deaths). Teenage suicide rate is 12.7%, this relates only to deaths reported by academic hospitals and the real rate may even be higher.

In Keep the Dream196 we have given much attention to the mental health of our students and children. We teach how to deal with anxiety and depression through professional help and counselling. We provide an avenue where the children may safely express their thoughts and sentiments. We make them feel that they are a part of a family and that they have a support group. We build resilience through setting achievable goals which ensures increased success and self-esteem.

In 12 years of our operation we have NOT had any suicides with our participants. We have had a single incident of a suicide attempt, this young woman left our program 3 years earlier and did not have any positive peers or a supportive community looking after her. While under the influence of alcohol and drugs she thought suicide was an option to the hopelessness she was experiencing. Nevertheless, we are glad to let you know that she has returned to KTD196 as a Rover and has now graduated with a degree in law.

She realised that KTD196 provided her with the essential support that she no longer experienced at university, she is very engaged in our program now and shares her story with other younger children to ensure they do not travel the road she took.

Many of our children we are unable to substantially change their circumstances however we can change the impact their circumstances have on their mental health and give them the skills to be overcomers and not victims of circumstances. We are only able to do this because of the support you provide.

Thank you so much, when I share we have literally saved lives, I mean it, together we SAVE LIVES!

Blessings

Louise

ps it is deliberate that we use the rainbow as a promise of hope for our kids!

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Nov 5, 2020
Education and KTD196

By Louise | Jack of all trades, master of none!

Cascade Education - older children teach younger!

Welcome to our new supporters, I hope you find the work we do comprehensive and encouraging, especially since you have now partnered with us. Welcome back all our other supporters, especially those that are giving on a monthly basis, you actually provide 28% of our annual income, without which we would not be able to have the impact we are having. Thank you all for investing in our children and their futures!

As we are winding up for the end of the year, thank God, I wanted to take some time to share our successes with you over time.

In Keep the Dream196, we are not only effecting positive change in the health and wellness of the youth but we are also investing time and effort to improve their academic performance.

In 2020, Limpopo has a matriculation rate of 73.2% and is one of the lowest in the country. We are, however, happy to inform you that the students who are under our various programs have an average of 91% (over the past 10yrs) overall pass or matriculation rate a significant jump from the provincial rate.

Furthermore, the remaining 9% who didn’t matriculate was an issue caused not by the students or by us in KTD196 but can be directly connected to the times when there was a national general strike in the nation which included all teachers of the schools where our children attend as well as the failure of the Department of Education to deliver the necessary school materials and textbooks to all of the schools in Limpopo.

In our Children's program, the children are taught: teamwork; study skills; determination; to seek out support and help when they do not understand the curriculum or content; and because of these skills the children are passing their matric exams. We also use older children to inspire younger children to read and get excited about learning.

In fact for 4 years in the past 10yrs we have had 100% matriculation pass rate.

We also assist the matriculants with career advice and access to bursary applications and university enrolment forms. All of our children, who have gone on to college or university, have persevered and been able to graduate. We have made an impact not only on their academics but also on how they handle themselves during their stay in the university. The young adults tell us that they do not succumb to peer pressure at the university because they have learnt in KTD196 to have a goal and be determined and focused.

It is such a pleasure to watch our young adults enter the workforce with skills and determination to succeed and break the poverty cycles for themselves and their families.

As the matriculation exams are now starting in South Africa, after such a torrid year with minimal access to learning due to Covid and the inability of the Dept of Education to provide alternatives to face-to-face education, I am sure we all pray for the students success and understand that this year has been fraught with problems not of their making. I hope to share good news in 2021 about the results of the exams.

Thank you to everyone who has shared their concerns and their support during this time.

I pray that you remain safe and well.

I look forward to hearing from you in the future

Blessings

Louise

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Nov 2, 2020
HIV Prevention and KTD196

By Louise | Jack of all trades, master of none!

Hellooooooooooooo and Welcome WELCOME WELCOME to the KTD196 Community!

Thank you to all our new supporters, please if you have any questions or want to get in touch, please don’t hesitate to contact me on keepthedream196@gmail.com and I will answer any questions you may have! For those who have been on this journey for a while now, you are all awesome and so appreciated. Together, we are saving lives.

Last week I spoke about the impact KTD196 is having on teenage pregnancy, specifically that nationally the teenage pregnancy rate is 13%, in our program we have reduced this number to 0.07% sustained for 17yrs. 12girls in 17years instead of 170-200girls every year have become pregnant in our program.

Well the good news doesn’t stop there!

Another problem commonly found in the poor regions of South Africa is HIV. Moreover, as a consequence of the high teenage pregnancy rate it also increases the number of HIV positives especially to the youth. In 2017, Limpopo has a HIV positive rate of 17.2% among individuals aged 15-49 years old. In fact the highest burden was on children and young adults aged between 15-25yrs.

For several years one clinic where we work had 100% maternal HIV rate, can you imagine, every mother who attended the clinic was diagnosed with HIV plus a 25% chance of transferring the infection to the child. Sadly, we have approximately 25% of our children are orphans predominantly due to HIV. We have, in the past, buried many parents and also children due to HIV being transmitted from parent to child. Fortunately, with the introduction of systematic Anti-retrovirals we are no longers seeing the death rates we were seeing a few years ago.

We at Keep the Dream196 are proud to report that through our programs and projects we have helped in decreasing the HIV rate of Limpopo. As of 2019, the HIV prevalence rate of Limpopo is 8.99%. A decrease of 8% in just 2 years.

The children in our programs are taught to abstain and protect themselves from unwanted pregnancies and the dangers of HIV.

Our programs have undoubtedly saved lives, and, in the process, we also saved a lot of money for the government. HIV treatment is expensive and because of our intervention many families will not be burdened in paying for such unwanted medical treatment.

Overall, we have made such a positive impact in the health and wellness of the youth in Limpopo and we are ever more motivated to continue guiding these children to a better and brighter life. This is all possible because of your support!

I cannot emphasize enough the impact of your support on the lives of the children we serve. We bring hope against all odds, because of you!

Blessings

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