Lifeskills for 2,587 Children in South Africa

Welcome Welcome Welcome to the Keep The Dream196 Community of Supporters!

WOW, you guys are just so faithful, I just want you to know how much I appreciate you as people. You have all blown me away. You have captured the hearts of our children with your concern and care. You have thought about our kids, you have seen us and noticed us and shared our concern for these amazing children.

Did you know you are building generations to come!

You are wonderful and for you to think so highly of what we do is priceless. Thank you is such an inadequate word to convey my heart and my sincerity. I am humbled by your care and compassion.

This week I have some really exciting news! Keep The Dream196 is moving!!! No the office won’t be moving but we will be opening a branch in NorthWest Province, which is west of where we currently are.

What brought this about? We know that there are children throughout South Africa in need of the work we do. The opportunity to expand has come through Nkulu my Social Worker (one of our original 13girls from 2003), has met and falling in love with the Regional Commissioner for Scouts in NorthWest Province, an equally impoverished Province in South Africa.

EXCITING RIGHT? But there is more! Upon invitation by the Management Committee of NorthWest Province we will open a program there which will instantly give us the capcity to serve 1,000 new children and families.

We are being given an opportunity to broaden our scope, to bring hope and change to over 1,000 new children and 1,000 new families. This is so exciting for us, it is a dream come true for us! We will keep you abreast as things transpire so look out for announcements and updates to the expansion.

What does that mean for you? It means that your connection to Keep the Dream 196 and concern for the uplifting of these young lives, of bringing real change, is expanding in such a real and tangible way. Together we are transforming lives, communities and social systems in a very real way.

Wait! That is not all!

In response to the reports I have posted on Global Giving regarding bringing awareness of nutritional stunting, we are co-ordinating an educational program around Food 4 Life for 100 children, to start with.

The goal of this program is to bring about real food sustainability and reduce the impact of stunting on young lives. Why are we doing this program now? As the rainy season is only 6weeks away this will be perfect timing to be able to start the project. We will train initially 100 children in creating door sized food gardens using natural compost, fertilizer, weed prevention and insect repellents. We will also train the children and parents on the importance of eating a balanced diet and new methods of cooking, 100 families and potentially 500 individuals will have sustainable food security.

This is just for starters!

Its all so exciting.

Thank you so much. I really appreciate you, I hope you are as excited as we are by the future plans to touch and change these amazing children.

Your co-worker

Louise

Links:

• Why not follow us on Facebook?
• Or check out our website

WELCOME to all our new supporters who have joined us in the last week or so! Thank you for your support, we really appreciate you and your support. Also, to those who have been supporting us since KTD196 started, WOW thank you! You are all awesome and I appreciate you very much.

Thank you to all those who have left comments and encouragement, it really does feel like I have your support and that we share a common vision. That is amazing since most of you I do not know. I know a few who have been to visit or who know me through the work we do or those from my home land, however the majority, sadly, I do not know directly.

I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to come KTD196 if you’re in the neighbourhood. I know Tzaneen, Limpopo even South Africa is not in most people’s neighbourhood however, miracles do happen, one day you might be planning a trip to Africa or even up north if you live in South Africa. Just factor us in! I would love to introduce you to my kids, to the Tzaneen area’s I know, to the fabulous scenery we have around here. That would be wonderful for you to see directly what your support goes to directly rather than through my eyes.

Today I want to go deeper in to the 40% stunting rate in South Africa that I spoke about in my last report. I want to share some facts and figures.

The latest statistics say that 21.7% of South Africans live in extreme poverty, not being able to pay for basic nutritional requirements; 37% of people don’t have enough money to purchase both adequate food items and non-food items so they have to sacrifice food to pay for things like transport and airtime; 53.8% of people can afford enough food and non-food items but fall under the widest definition of poverty in South Africa, surviving on under R779 or $50US per month.

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2015-02-03-south-africa-where-12-million-live-in-extreme-poverty/

The current population of South Africa is 58,155,698 as of today!

38million people in South Africa live below the poverty line!! Think about that! Re-read that number!

42% of the population are children under the age of 18yrs.

That means 16million children are living in poverty today!

16million children do not get enough food or enough nourishing food!

One of the International Millennium Development Goals include: Food Security and Food Sustainability. Scouts South Africa are using the annual challenge this year to promote both. KTD196 has been working on this goal for 16years.

Keep The Dream196, to date, have trained in excess of 700 parents and over 6,000 children on sustainable permaculture practices to end stunting and to promote healthy future adults. KTD196 have trained parents on vegetable garden development; natural fertilizers such as composting, manure teas, natural pest control, cash-book skills, marketing skills and working together as teams to maximize the returns for each parent. Through this project parents who have limited resources are able to use those resources to purchase other things rather than vegetables. This process assists in making the Children’s Life skills project more sustainable as parents can contribute towards some costs for their children.

The lack of food security and nourishment particularly for the 66% of South Africans (particularly women and children) who live below the poverty line and in extreme poverty means growth stunting of children has reached 40% nationally.

However the biggest impact is in reducing stunting in children in Limpopo and you are a part of that impact. Your support has enabled us to continue with this project. Your vision and support of KTD196 is enabling us to have this sort of impact. Thank you all

Your co-worker

Louise and the Dream Team.

Because of Keep The Dream I can grow my own food. I dont have to buy vegetables anymore. That means I can spend more money on parafin for cooking and lighting my home instead of just candles. KTD196 has done such a good job for us. We are able to also sell our vegetables to our neighbours for soap, bread or what we need. I am so very happy. My tummy no longer growls at night because I was very hungry. My children and grandchildren are doing better in school. They can pay attention and learn.

I am so very happy. Thank you to everyone from KTD196 who helped us. God Bless you

Mabel Nkambacko Village.

Links:

• Why not follow us on Facebook?
• Or check out our website