By Louise Batty | Managing Director
WELCOME to all our new supporters who have joined us in the last week or so! Thank you for your support, we really appreciate you and your support. Also, to those who have been supporting us since KTD196 started, WOW thank you! You are all awesome and I appreciate you very much.
Thank you to all those who have left comments and encouragement, it really does feel like I have your support and that we share a common vision. That is amazing since most of you I do not know. I know a few who have been to visit or who know me through the work we do or those from my home land, however the majority, sadly, I do not know directly.
I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to come KTD196 if you’re in the neighbourhood. I know Tzaneen, Limpopo even South Africa is not in most people’s neighbourhood however, miracles do happen, one day you might be planning a trip to Africa or even up north if you live in South Africa. Just factor us in! I would love to introduce you to my kids, to the Tzaneen area’s I know, to the fabulous scenery we have around here. That would be wonderful for you to see directly what your support goes to directly rather than through my eyes.
Today I want to go deeper in to the 40% stunting rate in South Africa that I spoke about in my last report. I want to share some facts and figures.
The latest statistics say that 21.7% of South Africans live in extreme poverty, not being able to pay for basic nutritional requirements; 37% of people don’t have enough money to purchase both adequate food items and non-food items so they have to sacrifice food to pay for things like transport and airtime; 53.8% of people can afford enough food and non-food items but fall under the widest definition of poverty in South Africa, surviving on under R779 or $50US per month.
The current population of South Africa is 58,155,698 as of today!
38million people in South Africa live below the poverty line!! Think about that! Re-read that number!
42% of the population are children under the age of 18yrs.
That means 16million children are living in poverty today!
16million children do not get enough food or enough nourishing food!
One of the International Millennium Development Goals include: Food Security and Food Sustainability. Scouts South Africa are using the annual challenge this year to promote both. KTD196 has been working on this goal for 16years.
Keep The Dream196, to date, have trained in excess of 700 parents and over 6,000 children on sustainable permaculture practices to end stunting and to promote healthy future adults. KTD196 have trained parents on vegetable garden development; natural fertilizers such as composting, manure teas, natural pest control, cash-book skills, marketing skills and working together as teams to maximize the returns for each parent. Through this project parents who have limited resources are able to use those resources to purchase other things rather than vegetables. This process assists in making the Children’s Life skills project more sustainable as parents can contribute towards some costs for their children.
The lack of food security and nourishment particularly for the 66% of South Africans (particularly women and children) who live below the poverty line and in extreme poverty means growth stunting of children has reached 40% nationally.
However the biggest impact is in reducing stunting in children in Limpopo and you are a part of that impact. Your support has enabled us to continue with this project. Your vision and support of KTD196 is enabling us to have this sort of impact. Thank you all
Your co-worker
Louise and the Dream Team.
Because of Keep The Dream I can grow my own food. I dont have to buy vegetables anymore. That means I can spend more money on parafin for cooking and lighting my home instead of just candles. KTD196 has done such a good job for us. We are able to also sell our vegetables to our neighbours for soap, bread or what we need. I am so very happy. My tummy no longer growls at night because I was very hungry. My children and grandchildren are doing better in school. They can pay attention and learn.
I am so very happy. Thank you to everyone from KTD196 who helped us. God Bless you
Mabel Nkambacko Village.
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