Lifeskills for 2,587 Children in South Africa

Nkomo sweneni ngopfu!! (Thank you so very much!)

Last Wednesday I got to go out with the team and was blessed out of my socks. I went first to a SHG group where we were greeted with such enthusiasm, it was great to see the ladies so serious about the work of saving and loans and hearing the impact of what the program meant to them. The group was only a year old and already so strong that it is being considered for the next level, that of the Cluster Level Association.

Next, I spoke to an Induna, he was sharing about how things had changed in his village since the introduction of SHG and Scouts. Because of SHG and the CLA operating near by, a police forum had been founded and now crime had dropped considerably in the village. Not only that but he had realised, through training with KTD196, the importance of listening to the children and hearing, truly hearing what the kids had to say. After the training this Induna started holding Junior Village Committee meetings. They are at the forming stage, the kids are learning to trust him and the he is building relationships with the children.

Once this is done to both groups satisfaction we will come and help facilitate the problem-solving portion of the process. Actually, listening to children about the concerns the children have village wise, from bullying to improved services for children in the community. Currently, there are no sports fields or activities for the children, this is when they get bored and trouble starts to happen!

From here we went to a cub pack and a scout troop. The cubs where learning how to light matches and build fires safely. Also what to so if there clothes caught on fire so that even if it is not them, they know how to extinguish flames and treat someone with minor burns.

The Scouts were learning about Children’s Rights and their Responsibilities. When we started with this program we realised the kids had been taught their rights but in isolation of their responsibilities, hence children were using their rights against their parents to get their own way and parents were too afraid to stand against what the children were being taught in the schools.

So we came with the balance, we teach the parents about their roles as Duty Bearers and we teach the children their responsibilities as Rights Holders. This has created a much needed balance between parents and children.

All in all it was a lovely, very hot, successful day. It was lovely to hear from all the different voices about the impact KTD196 was having on the lives of individuals and at family level as well as communities. You should be very proud of the support you are giving and the impact we are having because of your donations. All of this is only possible through sustained, ongoing support, so thank you so much

Blessings

Louise

Links:

• Facebook is a great way to keep up to date with what we are upto
• Why not visit our website you are welcome to leave a message!
• The Scouts are learning team work thorugh games!