By Louise Batty | Managing Director
Welcome to Keep The Dream196 Community. Welcome to our new supporters and greetings to those who have walked a journey over the years with us! Thank you for celebrating with us our winter camps. THANK YOU so much for your support throughout this time.
In the end we had approximately 100kids each week for 3 weeks and on the weekend of the first week we had and Introduction to Adult Leadership. The next weekend we had 25children come for a camp which they were able to fund by saving throughout the year. Its been a very busy and exhausting as you can imaging with so many children.
Needless to say, irrespective of various glitches ie VERY cold weather, no water for 2days and other assorted issues along the way, the kids had an absolute ball because of your support. They learnt so much, many were awarded bush craft badges, fitness badges, and environmental badges. They assure us that they will move heaven and earth throughout the coming year to return next year.
During this time I also had the privilege of awarding one of my staff with the Silver Medal for Bravery. Constance came across 5 children of 5yrs age being attacked by Africanised bees. With no thought to herself she rescued all 5 children, one of whom was unconscious from all the stings. She also was badly stung. I am happy to report all children survived, the little boy who was unconscious spent 7days in ICU and a further week in hospital while the others had to spend a week in the general wards.
I am sure you would agree, her actions are worthy of acknowledgement and celebration. Below you find her story which will be printed in the local, provincial and national online and print newspapers. Her story speaks of the impact on the lives of adults and not just children whom we serve.
I have a request, no it’s not what you are thinking! At the end of this report, you will have an option to rate KTD196 and the reports that I am sending, I am asking that you please score us and give me feedback on the subsequent link so that I can tailor these reports more effectively to your needs. Usually I receive a score between 8-10, however recently I have received scoring from 2 supporters from this community of 1 or 2. I would really like to know why such a low score so that I can adjust accordingly.
Thank you all so much. I will post more stories about the children in the weeks to come however unfortunately GG doesn’t support videos being embedded in their reports as yet. I will add the link however if you go to our Facebook page you will be able to access them at your leisure.
Thank you once again for helping us to realise the children’s dreams, for partnering with us and for making a huge difference in the lives of children and adults who dreams were broken or dead. Together we bring hope for new future!
Blessings
Louise
An act of pure selflessness has seen 52-year-old Constance being awarded with a Silver Star Medial for Bravery and a certificate.
Constance who is from Sedan village in Mohlaba told Letaba Herald that having joined 'Keep The Dream196' has changed her life for the better.
"I grew up as a naughty young girl and I did not have respect for anyone. I was very harsh towards people, never stopping to consider how my words might affect them and as a result I became very short tempered with everyone and everything," Constance stated.
She joined Keep The Dream196 in 2011 and she exclaimed that it wasn't an easy transition for her but it is something she is now grateful for.
"It was difficult for me to envision the change and I thought I would be losing myself so I became resistant towards it. But thanks to the advice that Louise gave me and the support from everyone here, I overcame my own fears. Louise came to me one day and asked me to go to counselling so that I could deal with all my anger, and that was the biggest thing that I did which made me feel lighter. I am proud of where I am right now. I have been able to take part in skills development training, lessons in English and I even learned to work better with the people around me," she explained.
As a mother of three and a grandmother to three grandsons, she spoke of how the organisation helped her better the relationship she has with her family.
According to Constance, she wasn't an approachable person to her family but through the counselling she got, she was able to make amends and rebuild her relationship with her children.
Constance has also travelled the province to help and train long-term unemployed people in permaculture and created community based garden projects.
She got awarded a certificate and a medal for having saved children at Mafarana Primary School from a fatal incident.
"We had a troop at their local school and there were these kids that were running and screaming. When we turned, I noticed that they were being attacked by bees. One of the kids got stung on his face so badly that he lost consciousness and I quickly ran to him to try and get him to safety. What I did not realise after picking him from the ground was that the bees were now on me. The only thing I had in my mind was to get the little child to safety and I managed to get him to a bed of flowers and the bees then stopped stinging him. I ran around the school for a while until I came across an open hall and I closed myself in there but some of the bees had gotten in with me," she exclaimed.
It was through the help of her KTD196 colleagues at the troop that drove the car around to where she had been hiding and managed to get her to a nearby clinic, along with the children who had been stung.
The little boy who had fallen unconscious was in ICU for one week wherein afterwards he was kept another week for recovery from the incident.
Constance told Herald that 'the old Constance would have never done anything for anyone else' and thus having been awarded the medal last Thursday, made her realise just how much of an impact the organisation has had on her life.
"Having been part of this journey made me come to terms with the fact that everyone has a purpose and there is a time to fulfil ones calling. I would have never thought at the time I first joined that I could still live out my dreams. Therefore, people shouldn't strain themselves thinking that nothing will ever change because there is no expiration date on dreams," she concluded.
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