Empowering Girls and Women as Mothers

Greetings Avuxeni,

As we enter the spring season here in South Africa, it is a time for reflecting and showing appreciation. First, we are reflecting on all that we have been able to accomplish this past quarter. Programmatically, we had to shift our programs dramatically due to the global spread of COVID-19. No one could have prepared us for mandated quarantine, facemasks, and social distancing. It’s almost hard to believe that this is our present “norm”. Organizationally, we had to pivot in our delivery of services to make sure we maintained our commitment to identifying and meeting the needs of young people and their families here in Limpopo, South Africa. Honestly, there were days when the team and I spent hours trying to put systems and structures in place to meet the needs of our youth.

The pandemic proved to be the perfect time to expand our healthy eating and healthy living program and to shift our focus to providing food parcels. Due to the pandemic, the fear of hunger has become a more pressing issue than the fear of the virus. Up to 70% of households in Limpopo skip meals or eat the same meal on most days. Families now struggle to provide meals or worry about having no food or money to buy food. And households with multiple children face a real dilemma of food insecurity.

As the leader of the organization, I have always believed that having a dream for a better tomorrow is a basic human right. Food security, in my opinion, is also a basic human right. The fact is that in adults, food insecurity is linked to detrimental health outcomes, such as obesity, chronic diseases, and mental health disorders. In children, there is a link between food insecurity, stunting, poor development, and decreased academic ability.

Because of you and your support, KTD196 has helped almost 200 families to have adequate, healthy, and safe food. You have also helped mothers to be free from worry or anxiety about having enough food for everyone in the household. Thank you!

The demand for our healthy eating and healthy living program has grown and we are excited, not only about what we have been able to do thus far, but also about the impact we will yet do. Every gift of $125 helps reduce the stunning of 70% of families who are hungry each day.

The real impact is that food insecurity is directly linked to: 

o   poverty; 

o   lower levels of maternal education (primary school or none);

o   unemployment;

o   larger household size; and 

o   households that experience events that place an added demand on their budgets. This could also be related to an unexpected illness with medical expenses or a sudden job loss.

Another factor is the increasing trend of people eating more amounts of cheap fast food and less nutritious food.

Because of you, we are literally saving children from malnutrition, poor development, and decreased academic achievement. It is important to note that our work is not a short-term fix. There is a direct connection between alleviating food insecurity to some extent and an increased ability to take on some type of work for income.

Every time you give to KTD196, you are also helping increase employment opportunities, education, and empowerment, and significantly lessen the burden of food insecurity. Again, thank you!

Below are photos of the KTD196 team distributing food parcels, some of the many food gardens which have been developed during this time, that you helped provide. Please visit our Keep The Dream 196 Facebook page to see more photos and videos as well. Alternatively, I have just uploaded some video's to our YouTube channel where parents express their thanks to you themselves. It is so heartbreaking!

Links:

• Youtube channel with people thanking you for supporting them!
• Facebook has new content. Please Share to spread the work we do!
• Why not visit our website?