Lifeskills 2,743 vulnerable children South Africa

Dear Friends and partners of Keep The Dream196,

Greetings on this very warm, sunny, humid day in Tzaneen. As I reflect back over all the happenings this year (and its only March), it is an exciting time to live in country full of change. The changes we are experiencing so far is that of the removal of the president of South Africa and of the ANC. With the new president, Cyril Ramaphosa there are now looming concerns of land appropriation without compensation further destabilizing confidence in the South African market, the same can be said of working in the volatile NGO (Non-Government sector) locally as well as nationally.

So where does this leave our funding request for a farm you may ask? Well, we continue to believe this is an important route to take for our long term sustainability so that we are no longer dependent on donors for our survival. Keep The Dream196 is a legal entity in its own right and since all the beneficiaries, volunteers and staff (with the except of myself) are black africans from poverty riddled areas the government will not confiscate any land we acquire as it is already black owned. I hope this answers any concerns you may have regarding this issue, if you are still concerned please dont hesitate to contact me on keepthedream196@gmail.com for further clarification.

Despite this and many other issues, Keep The Dream196 is determined to continue to provide help, support and training to the children we serve. It is at this time that our morals based program is even more required. The children are being taught honesty, integrity, resilience and caring for others at a time when these commodities are in short supply generally.

The children continue to rise up as leaders within their schools, leaders with their peers and as passed graduates of KTD196 leaders in their new spheres of influence within their work force. This is exciting for us to see and be able to literally watch the emerging of a new generation of young people who refuse to behave like the old guard and to stand against the status quo in this land.

Phew ok, time to get off the soap box and let you hear from one of our kids.

Voice of the Child

My name is Nhlanhla Prayer K, I an a 25 years of age male from Mavele village just outside Tzaneen. It even scares me to say 25 years of age because just a few years ago I was a young scout cared for by Keep The Dream196 in many ways.

When I was born there was great jubilee at home over my arrival and people gave me names including "Prayer.” Little did I know that this second name would define most of my life experiences. Before and when I became a scout I was a very shy little boy who could not even tell you if you were standing on my toes, funny as this may sound. It affected me in a bad way.  People would bully me at school knowing that I would just bottle it in and not say anything about it.

When I was introduced to scouts by mom Maria Mongwe (a Home Based Care Volunteer) in 2004, it was a foreign concept but sounded interesting so  together with some of my friends and neighbours we joined scouts with an intention to just see what it was all about. As you can guess we loved it. Mainly because we got to learn new information at every gathering, we got to interact with other people that were our peers. The fact that these were our peers helped us to see life in a positive view and to have a sense of hope, this is what KTD196 did for us, they brought us hope and possibilities.

As I said, I was a very shy person; I started to be more open to other people and learnt how to communicate. I was no longer shy and started standing up for myself in a respectful manner. I became involved with the Student School Governance Committee and even stood before President Kgalema Mothlante and thousands of people to recite a poem I had written when he came to my village to open a new school. Such were the changes in me.

I realised that even at school I had started to be ahead in that I would know some educational information before the teachers could teach it, giving me good standing. Being a scout who comes from a rural and cultural area I also got to talk about sensitive issues that I could never talk about at home. The scouts meetings and camps helped me to speak about things like sexual intercourse, STDs, child abuse, male and female changes and how to handle them, how to choose careers paths and the like. Being a scout has also shone a light in terms of a career path and how to follow your career.

A huge change was noticeable upon all the people that were scouts, behaviour changed drastically, they started to behave in a good way and remained positive and focused. The positivity that being a scout brought to our lives was also noticeable in the fact that we all passed matric well and went on to pursue our careers, I went on to complete a Bachelor of Computer Sciences, others went on to study other noble careers like Bachelor of Sciences, Law and the like.

I have made so many friends that have helped me and are still helping me with different things of life. The fact that most of them are working means that I have friends in most of the career paths that I can think of. Growing up as a scout has opened many doors for me, it has created a network of friends, information and knowledge that always is handy in my day to day living. I have become a disciplined young man through the activities and knowledge that became part of my life.

As I grew up I came to the realisation that I am also called to be a minister of the WORD of God. This being one of the hardest tasks that any young man can come across, though very fulfilling and life giving. The fact that I had been a facilitator and a peer educator as a scout gave me a boost in terms of people skills and how to talk to people or address them. I now can stand in front of a vast number of people and address them. I am now able to conduct counselling for people that need it. I believe with every atom of my being that Keep The Dream196 is the reason why I have overcome my issues as a child and am able to be the man God destined me to be. Keep The Dream196 has been an angel that God sent into my life to come and mould me to be what HE wants me to be, even though the journey continues the impact of Scouts upon my life has been unexplainable.

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