Gender Equality South Africa Project #38463

Empowering Girls and Women as Mothers

by Keep The Dream196

Project Report | Aug 31, 2022
Gender Based Violence Prevention through KTD196!

By Louise and the KTD196 Dream Team | Jack of all trades, master of none!

Young people choosing to be part of the program!

Our program generally is a rights-based, moral, and values-inculcating project. The children are taught respect for the different sexes (are we still allowed to use that word?). We are a Gender Based Violence prevention program, we are changing the culture at a grassroots level and enabling children to inspire others to greatness, improve behavior, to reduce bullying and Gender Based Violence (GBV). We empower children to not just stand by and watch violence unfold but to stand up and say stop, especially where bullying is concerned.

GBV we acknowledge is different, we do not want the children hurt however 70% of violence that is perpetrated, is perpetrated in the homes, seeking help is acceptable, and breaking the silence is acceptable.

The prevention of GBV is woven throughout our program from inception through the relationships built between boys and girls and through small group development. At Keep the Dream 196, we have designed a program to socialise boys and girls together, see each other as peers, and engender respect for one another. We have specific training programs which build resilience and assist young boys/men to honour and respect females including mothers, sisters, aunts, and peers. Because our program is holistic and is anchored in morals and values, we are able to overcome traumatic childhood experiences through positive role modeling of behaviors by older peers, the support of a small group, and the training we provide.

Sadly, it is our experience that Mountain School (often a euphemism for young boys from the age of 6 to 20+yrs of age being kidnapped against their will) go to this "School" to learn to be men. It requires, in the middle of winter, the boys to be stripped naked, painted either red or white, starved, circumcised in often unhygienic circumstances, and physically abused. At the end of the 3weeks, if the boys survive, they are then considered "Men". Once the status of "Man" has been confirmed, the boys can treat women any way they want to and demand anything they want. One young man who went to the mountain returned and said that they were told they could now rape any woman they want including their grandmothers because they were now men!

This is the sort of cultural practice we are up against and why the KTD196 children's program is so important. These Schools are means for adults to make exorbitant amounts of money without care or concern for the well fair of the child. Each year it is reported that boys die through this process. These boys, again as young as 6yrs old are told they are now men and can behave with impunity within the family. An issue that was highlighted in our recent Children's Rights Situational Analysis (CRSA) was that boys who have been to Mountain School refused to be educated by female teachers and are very disruptive in class, this causes whole classrooms of children to fail at school.

By supporting KTD196 we are modifying behavior, and bringing back respect between the genders. We run a program, usually at camp called "Boys2Men" which challenges the boys to consider what is a man's role in today's society, what role models they have to inform their behavior, and what was it they required when they were growing up from an influential male in their lives.

From one group of 20 boys during this training, only 10% said they had fathers living with the family, and of that 10% both wished their fathers would leave because of the abuse observed against their mothers. Sadly, these statistics are commonplace.

Your support of KTD196 is positively influencing families and the next generations. We are providing an alternative Right of Passage for both girls and boys, which is based on respect and care. Healing families will help us heal communities long term, this generation is growing up with the skills and insight to really influence and change the status quo. All because of you! All because of your support.

I really want to thank those who have heeded my call for starting a monthly support program for KTD196 THANK YOU SO MUCH it is wonderful to have you on board, you bring a level of financial security we can rely on.

I trust this report has been interesting and that you have learned a bit more about the context in which we work and how important your support is to our impact.

God Bless

Louise

Boys who are attending Mountain School

Mountain School Initiates

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Aug 24, 2022
Self Help Groups Updates!

By Louise and the KTD196 Dream Team | Jack of all trades, master of none!

Initial Spaza Shop

What a privilege it is to be a part of something that really does change lives! I am blown away often by the impact we are having and the changes we are seeing through the work KTD196 does. I really do hope you get a sense of my excitement as I share what is happening with the SHG (Self Help Groups).

We now officially have 16 groups with another 4 in process. That means we currently have 321 mothers in the program who are supporting 874 children, so that is over 1,000 current beneficiaries of this program. Well, those are the numbers, but so what?

Well, what those numbers translate into is that 321 of the poorest of the poor families that we are working with now have access to financial independence through this program. No longer is food security an issue, no longer are school fees an issue, and no longer are the ladies being forced to pay the money lenders between 30-50% interest to borrow. No longer do the ladies have to go door to door begging for food, they are now the answer to their own problems. No longer do they feel worthless, useless, trapped in a cycle of poverty, and no longer do they have to contend with being judged or treated badly by others just for being poor. They are no longer ridiculed by relatives and pushed further down by life in an often cruel environment.

Through your support and encouragement, we are changing whole family's lives.

Combined, all the groups now have at their disposal over R128,000 This money goes out each week in small loans according to each group's available money and then comes back with 10% interest.

Over R539,000 has gone out in circular loans. What this means is that R128,000 rands has been disbursed in the form of loans to the value of R539,000 rands. So the money goes out, and is brought back with interest, then goes out again, and again, and again. The ladies have at their disposal this money that rapidly grows.

Just as another statistic, over 60% of the ladies now have small businesses. They have started a variety of different businesses including selling airtime, selling eggs, chickens, vegetables, and cleaning products. One ladies has started a small spaza shop which sells a variety of different products like maize meal (a staple food), cooking oil, cool drink, sweets, etc.

All of the groups have started small business courses through the program to assist their business to grow. This is the start of financial freedom. The businesses in the future will grow and become opportunities for employment for others such as bakeries, restaurants, and tailor shops. The opportunities are only limited by imagination and you have been allowed these ladies to dream, not just for them but also for their children.

This is huge! Thank you so much. Thank you for having the desire to make a difference and for joining and supporting our vision and our dreams to make a difference. If you have any comments please leave me a message, I love hearing from our supporters!

God bless you

Louise

Potential Spaza Shop

Or something more professional

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Aug 17, 2022
Trust comes from being transparent with you!

By Louise and the KTD196 Dream Team | Jack of all trades, master of none!

Thank you for your gift of Love to the children!

I am so excited that you have chosen to partner with Keep The Dream196 to continue to change the life outcomes of these amazingly beautiful children in Limpopo Province.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Children are the future, their ability to dream determines their future and because of you, the children we work with are not just dreaming but realizing those dreams!

I am happy to share with you how your funds are stewarded. As partners, we believe it is important to let you know your resources are well managed and truly serving the children.

If you would like a complete copy of our Annual Financial Report, please just email me on keepthedream196@gmail.com

Last year in 2021, 85.3% of monies raised were used to deliver the children's program, the SHG program, and all training and camps we have implemented.

The increase in costs has occurred due to the general cost of living increases, last time I reported on our financials we only 10% on organizational costs but with now having our own office space and no longer working out of my house this obviously has increased our organizational costs. Fuel has been a major increase on top of supporting people through Covid over the last 2years. I am proud to say with our interventions, only two families are still requiring food parcels but through the Self Help Project this will be reduced over the remainder of the year as these families become economically more stable.

Over the years we have worked diligently to deliver an impactful program effectively and stewarding your generous support allows us to continue to reach our goal as well. We have a goal to expand our reach this coming year to ensure we successfully reach even more children in need of Keep The Dream 196 program. The need is so great but we have the solution! Together we can do this thing!

Under project costs, we have activities such as:

Implementation of the Children's Program
Leadership Training for children
Leadership Training for the adults to be able to run our program
Sustainable Development Goals awareness and advocacy activities
Boys2Men training - this training helps the boys understand what is the role of a man in today's society. Sadly only 10% of the boys who attended the training had fathers. Of this only, 1% had fathers they viewed as role models. The lack of real fathers and real men that are willing to step up and mentor, guide, lead and provide for their families is so obvious when we hear the heartbreaking stories of these young men who often act out in violence and abuse because that is what they know. This training helps them understand the patterns associated with abuse and how to decide to be a different man and not fall into the same pitfalls their fathers had.
Sex and Sexuality training for girls in particular
Rural Leadership development training has been a feature this year as we have empowered the youth to take a more active role in the groups they are involved with
We have now over 300 ladies involved in our Self Help Group program of savings and loans - changing the power dynamics of money and taking the power away from the money lenders and giving it back to the women.

To name just a few activities we have implemented over this last year.

What this means in terms of outcome is that we, our programs and services, have been an important part of the many communities in which we work, and with your continued help, we can continue to provide a lasting impact in the lives of these children, their families, the townships and beyond. Thank you! We could not do all that we do without you.

Thank you so much for your continued support and encouragement it really is very special.

Blessings

Louise

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