Empowering Girls and Women as Mothers

I find it very humbling to watch the impact of our programs on the people we work with! I can’t explain the overwhelming joy I feel when I look at the way our programs are changing people’s lives tangibly. You have made this happen through your donations to KTD196, you have enabled the Dream Team and I to help people that felt helpless and hopeless.

I came to South Africa from Australia in 1999. I had always travelled and loved travelling but I played it safe, I stayed in 1^st world nations predominantly because I knew if I went to a 3^rd world nation (do people even use those terms anymore?) I would never be able to leave. I would want to stay and help. That is exactly what happened in 1996, I came and saw, had my heart broken and then it took 3yrs for me to sell everything and return.

My heart was broken by the poverty I saw, the way children were dirty and unkempt in the rural areas, running in the street, not in school. I saw girl children, carrying their babies on their backs having been kicked out of school because they were teenage mums. I saw kids and adults on drugs lying in the streets or propped up against trees because they were too drunk to walk home.

I saw women in particular under a heavy burden that seemed to weigh them down, basically grinding them into the ground as they shared about how difficult life was, for example: not being able to provide at least one meal on a daily basis for their children; not being able to provide money for electricity or candles for the children to study; not being able to buy school uniforms for their kids or shoes. The fear they had about the futures for their children, what would happen to them tomorrow if they couldn’t eat; what would happen in the future if they didn’t succeed at school, or if they did, how would they ever be able to go to further their studies.

Because of your support, KTD196 has come with answers to these questions.

As of today we have:

• 52 Self Help Groups representing 893 women who are heads of their families.
• So that is 893 families are involved and reaping the rewards of being involved in this project alone.
• 2,365 children are being supported through the SHG project in these 893 families.

Saving just R10 (50c USD or 80cAUD) a week the 52 SHG groups now have in excess of R726k in savings and loan interest. This money has gone out and come back in through savings, loans and interest to the value of R3.5million. What an astounding amount of money. Talking to the ladies, they are so happy that now their kids have decent food at least twice a day (the schools provide a meal as well), the children now have school uniforms and shoes, and the ladies are able to pay for electricity or paraffin for lamps.

I am so excited on their behalf, that is the power of your support you have brought which is immeasurable, hope is a commodity that doesn’t have a price but that is what you have given to these ladies and their kids. The kids are benefitting through joining the children’s program we run which is wonderful synergy.

Thank you for making my dreams come true, that of so many others

Blessings

Louise 

Grace is a member of the Hlanganani Self Help Group. She is married and has 4 children, 2 boys and 2 girls. Her husband is self-employed, he is a welder, and they mostly rely on the Child Support Grant to survive. Grace explained that most of the time they would live hand to mouth because the child support grant wasn’t enough to feed and take care of a family of 6 for the whole month. She further explained that her husband would sometimes go for a month without getting a single job and she would need to plan to make sure that the family has food on the table.

After joining SHG Grace decided to take a loan for R1000-00 ($50USD or $80AUD), went to town and bought clothes from a secondhand shop and started selling them around the community and the profit she made was unbelievable. Now she wants to go to Johannesburg and add more items to the things that she’s currently selling.

“SHG has really helped me a lot, my family is not at a level where we are financially stable but compared to last year and at the beginning of this year, we are doing so much better. So, I would like to thank this programme so much. I am so happy”

Grace said. In future I would like to make a poster for my husband to advertise his work so people can know that he is good at welding. I want my family to grow and be financially independent.

Such is the power of your support, now this family is not just surviving but thriving, because of you. In 2024 we will start another 25 groups and sustain the 52 we currently have. The future is so exciting, 893families have hope and are the solutions to their own problems even if KTD196 ceased to exist.

Thank you so much

Nkulu

Links:

• Why not go to our website, you are welcome to leave a message!
• Facebook is a great way to keep up to date!