Gender Equality South Africa Project #38463

Empowering Girls and Women as Mothers

by Keep The Dream196

Project Report | Apr 3, 2024
Thank you from Charleen!

By Louise and the Dream Team | Director

Charleen In January of 2024

Thank you for all you do and all of your support, you really are very special to us at KTD196 and the kids, they know about your support and are very grateful.

I hope you are all well and powering on.

Blessings

Louise

My name is Charleen and I'm a sixteen years’ old who's doing grade 11. I'm from Petanenge village based in Limpopo. I joined Scout on 2017 in primary school, at that time I was 10 years of age started by being in the first level which was called Cub

I came to scouts in order to gain more knowledge based on what I love because scouts is mostly about nature and teaching youngsters to survive in nature and to become one with it... because I love nature and also to learn something new which will expand my knowledge that's how adventurous I am.

Before I joined scout I was not a very talkative person back then, I was the shyest person in my family who had always been aggressive and not interested in any activities that can keep your busy as a child, but what I loved the most was to go and pick-up some woods on the mountain with my siblings and my grandmother for the fire.

I think what made me the most to be aggressive was because I really didn't get the father's love, but that made me to have a big bond with my Grandmom and Granddad. They both played the role of parenting and also my mother who was always there for me and my siblings.

Scouts had made me love nature to the fullest and also to respect what the nature has given us... it taught to me to live with animals and that not all the animals want to harm us unless if you've scared them... It also taught me to be responsible for my surroundings and how to help one another with the aim and willingness to help and not expect a thing in return, and that in each and every challenge that I come through I will thrive to the end if I don't and just sit back and give up. If there is nothing that will change a situation but to change is to continue pushing with your chin up and let the situation change me positively.

When I leave school I want to further up my educations at the University of Johannesburg where I will study DATA SCIENCE. I also want to fulfil my desire of being a model.

To all of the people who give their support to KTD196 thank you for your endless support which keeps us going whenever we wanna back out but it is not easy because your support keeps us going cause your like cheer leaders who influence us to not give up on this journey by that I say THANK YOU so much for helping me.

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Mar 27, 2024
Human Trafficking and KTD196

By Louise and the Dream Team | Director

Avuxeni, greetings to you!

We are coming to the end of the 1^st quarter of the year. My goodness how time flies. It seems like only last week I greeted the new year! We have had a lot of challenges to face this quarter, mainly with the service delivery strikes because this year is election year and there is a lot of instability happening politically. What is also happening is the incidence of children being kidnapped as part of a human trafficking operation in village areas where children are unattended and allowed to roam the streets without supervision.

It is a desperate time in which to live. South Africa is a source, destination, and transit country for human trafficking. The forms of trafficking found in South Africa include sex trafficking, child labour, domestic servitude, organ smuggling, child brides (ukuthwala), illegal child adoptions, debt-bondage (parents selling their children because they are in debt), forced surrogacy, and the use of body parts for muti (traditional medicines). The majority of human trafficking cases involve sex trafficking, while labour trafficking cases are limited. Traffickers often send South African women to Europe and Asia, where some end up having to working in prostitution, domestic service or drug smuggling. It is estimated that there are millions of victims although on 50-100,000 cases are found each year. Sadly, three children have disappeared from the villages where we work this week.

The training we have been implementing such as Journey of Life, many of our parents are now attending district events we organize, even our weekly group meetings and escort their children to and from the meeting points. We are also working with the Induna’s to spread the word to raise awareness and make it more difficult for these people to access children in our villages.

The communities through the SHG groups have been informed of the need to monitor their children carefully and be on the lookout for strangers. The SHG’s are mobilizing in their communities to ensure people are aware of trafficking. This is because the kids are on school holidays and much more accessible, it breaks my heart. I cannot imagine losing my eight-year-old to some trafficker.

Because of you, we have been able to put in place safeguards for our kids, but there are so many other kids at risk. It is even more urgent that we continue to enlarge our foot print and make our communities safer. We also run a program with the children themselves calling on the children to be alert and active to their surroundings, making sure if they go anywhere they go in 3s so that one can run and get help. Our older kids escort the younger unaccompanied children home at the end of the program.

These are just a few measures we have put in place to protect our kids. You have enabled this, thank you so much, if you would like to support a Journey of Life Training, it isn’t cheap but what is the price of a life? If you can’t afford to support a whole training, please any amount will help us protect our kids. We have an institutional donor who is also supporting us and sponsoring 17trainings, however the more we can get the word out, the safer our kids will be.

Thank you for being so responsive. You have saved lives. I wish this report was a lot more upbeat and less serious, if you pray, please do ask God to protect all of our kids, I feel like we are in a battle with pure evil.

Thank you so much

Louise

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Why not go to our website, you are welcome to leave a message!

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Mar 21, 2024
Updates on KTD196 and Teenage Pregnancy!

By Louise and the Dream Team | Director

Greetings, Avuxeni, Minjani, Umfekile minjane!

The school holidays are here in Limpopo Province, that means we are winding up our activities to keep the kids busy. Why you might ask? Well, years ago when KTD196 first started, I asked a group of girls, “Why do you think teenage pregnancy levels are so high in this area?” Their response shocked me. They all said they were bored, sex is something that is free, and it doesn’t cost any money.

What an eye opener! Of course for kids it is not just that but the consequences on their bodies, soul and spirits is enormous, never mind the implications of children having children.

Statistically, South Africa reported that 90,037 girls in SA aged 10 to 19 gave birth from March 2021 to April 2022. The Department of Basic Education reported that 190 learners in grades 3‚ 4 and 5 fell pregnant between 2014 and 2016. That means that these girls were between nine and 11 years of age.

A report released last week by Statistics South Africa, Crime Against Children, found that rape was the most prevalent crime reported for children under the age of 17, with the highest incidence in KwaZulu-Natal.

Think about that for a minute..

Of all the horrible crimes (housebreaking, car hijackings, etc) that affect children in our country, the one that happens to children — and girls in particular — the most, is rape. The report also found that sexual assault was nearly twice as high among children as it was in the general population.

Again, stop and think for a second. This means that children are targeted — presumably because they are more likely to remain quiet. So nothing happens to the paedophiles (yes, that is what they are), while the children are left with devastating long-term consequences, of which pregnancy is often one.

Legally, the age of consent in South Africa is 16 years. Yet, we rarely see anyone prosecuted for statutory rape.

Compound this problem with a patriarchal society where discredited, ex-president, Mr Zuma recently blamed the victims for “not keeping their legs shut”. Mr Zuma’s response is to point the finger at young girls who have no ownership or power over their own bodies is misdirected and cruel according to the Daily Maverick newspaper.

Zuma insisted that “under African law, when you are a child, you have no right to have a child”. Surely that should also mean that under African law (as in all rights-based legal systems) no man has the right to have sex with a child? Instead, the practice of adult men “blessing” young women with gifts in exchange for sex continues with impunity.

So, in saying all of this, teenage pregnancy has many root causes, parents sometimes are happy or at least turn a blind eye regarding their children having “blessers” because the family benefits! If pregnancy results, the state grants a Child Support Grant to support the baby. Recently it has come to light that South Africa is the 4^th highest nation involved in Human Trafficking in the world. The issues are complex.

At KTD196 with approximately 18,000 girls who have come through the program over 21years, we have had 12 pregnancy’s in total. According to STATSSA, 150,000 children under the age of 18yrs became delivered in 2023 in clinics, or hospitals. That is not to mention home births, abortions, miscarriages etc.

So let that sink in, 12 girls pregnant in 21years. You have been a part of that huge difference. Your support has enabled us to educate the girls and boys regarding having a dream and working towards that dream, while providing safe spaces for kids to be kids, plus also our child protection strategies to prevent sexual predators from accessing the kids in our programs. That is amazing when you consider what we are up against.

Thank you for making such a tangible difference in the lives of our children. The work we do has long lasting generational impact, so thank you for partnering with us to make such a huge difference.

Bless you

Louise

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