By Louise | Managing Director
Thank you all for your support during this time. We appreciate you so much. Thank you and welcome to our new supporters and also thank you to those who consistently give to the work we do and the kids we serve, you are awesome!
Many Countries all over the world would normally open the school year at this time of year. Parents and children alike are supposed to be enrolling in their school of choice and preparing things necessary for the academic year. This is not the case anymore! Governments are forced to adapt and enforce distance learning as a consequence brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. While this academic new normal will affect the social life of the students, this will necessarily curtail the spread of the virus.
South Africa is not so lucky this academic year. With the School year coming to a screaming halt in March of this year, many government schools have failed to open properly or only to select grades such as grades 3, 7, 11 and 12. Those that have been able to open allow the children to come only every second day because of social distancing issues. One school in our district has had 3 other schools close down and they now need to absorb those children in the already overcrowded classrooms. Many grades have failed to return to school plus the option of virtual classrooms is unavailable to the poor!
Some parents have no choice but to skip schooling entirely for their children this year until God knows when. Families would be concerned more about putting food on their table than hitting the books. The economic hardship has been the result of most citizens being forced to stay indoors.
As staff of Keep The Dream 196, we are concerned that the longer kids stay out of school, the more they will fall further behind in the areas of math, reading, and other core classes. Already we are already the poorest per capita (149th/149 countries) in English, Math and Science subjects. We are also concerned about kids who not only miss school but miss out on meals through the School’s Nutrition Program. Despite going to Level 2 lockdown and those business who survived are now open, more and more kids go to bed with their families hungry.
We are happy to report that KTD196 has been able to relieve some if not more of the piling pressure of the current hunger crisis and put our children to focus on their homework during at-home learning. We cannot control the spread of the virus, but we are reducing the number of hungry families and children. The University of Cape Town's Children's Institute said that before the pandemic, a quarter of South Africa's under-fives were nutritionally stunted and 6.4 million children under 18 years old survived on less than $32UD a month.
With your support on our food program, we have been able to provide close to 180 food parcels to local families and 800pkts of Epap plus 150 food gardens. We have been prioritizing families with multiple children and because of you, we have saved lives.
As we face the pandemic head-on, we are grateful that you have joined us in response to this emergency. The distribution of food parcels to poor families is in great demand and we could not meet that demand without your general support. Every day, we have mothers who cry tears of joy and gratitude that they don't have to soothe their crying babies and overlook their hungry bellies.
We are working very hard and it encourages me to share that our efforts are making a huge difference. We can reach families in remote areas and marginalized groups, such as refugees and people with disabilities.
On behalf of the hundreds of families that we have been able to support directly or provide with essential resources, we thank you. Your continued support for our food parcel drive is needed and appreciated. We would love to hear from you and answer any questions that you may have. On our Facebook page, you can leave a note. Or you may visit our website. I am happy to share with you how the funds are earmarked for this project. A gift of $125UD per month ($4.17 a day) will feed a family of six and help children perform scholastically and physically.
Below are photos of children and mothers living better brought about by your invaluable donation’s. Again, do accept our eternal gratitude and love.
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