Lifeskills 2,743 vulnerable children South Africa

I realized I really should have started with Elizabeth, who is my best friend in this country and who has put up with me since we met in 2003, which is not an easy job.

When I first met Elizabeth or Akela Zabe as she is affectionately known by the kids, she was a Volunteer Coordinator for the NGO in which we worked. My job at that stage was to go out and support the Home Based Volunteers because of my background in Community Palliative Care (caring for the dying), Zabe's job was to support the Home Based Care Volunteers and do the administration portion with the Volunteers, liaise with the families and support the best way she could in a resource-poor health system where even the provision of paracetamol for the terminal ill was a blessing.

Anyway, as part of the process of supporting the volunteers, Zabe and I became friends but what really sealed the deal was that after a SWOT analysis with the volunteers (Asking the volunteers what are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) they experienced and the organization could improve on. What became so clear was that although the volunteers were coping with caring for the dying (primarily of HIV/AIDs) what they were struggling with was the orphans, the children left behind with no one or minimal care to help them. These kids broke the spirit of the volunteers, like Catherine whom I introduced you to last week, and Rosemary who I will introduce you to next week, Zabe was no different.

The volunteers were broken when they watched these kids, lose their parent or in some cases parents, grief-struck they would start failing at school, dropping out of school, get into drugs, alcohol, crime, teenage parenthood, and some contract HIV and die. The kids, because of the stigma attached to HIV, were often ostracised because, at that stage, HIV was thought to be caused by witchcraft. The children often were not told what was wrong with their parents and at night, while sleeping, relatives would whisper in their ears their parent was dead. Nothing more would be said.

The then Manager told me to "Do SOMETHING! It was not to cost any money, had to be totally sustainable at the end of my work permit in two years' time, and was to solve all the problems that were identified by the Volunteers. You could say I was set up for failure.

Zabe was an easy choice to work with, I had been to her home on numerous occasions and she, as well as he daughters, were magnets for the local kids. Every time I went there, there was at least 10kids playing in the yard, they were safe, supervised, and cared for. Zabe is generally a quiet person until she is training people or working with kids, then she becomes animated and alive. All this love and passion just seeps out of her. She won't tell you about what she has achieved, or about her hardships, of which there have been many, she will always deflect and it is very hard to nail her down unless you know her. It took me a year to get a conversation out of her, in fact, it was very difficult to get anything other than yes, no, maybe or I don't know.

When I asked Zabe to help me with the children's project she became alive. I saw the most amazing transition from this quiet person to this passionate, excited person who adored kids and the kids adored her. We worked for 4yrs in the other organization, after hours, on weekends, public holidays, any gaps of time we had to be able to get this project up and running and stable. Sadly it became evident that the organization was not interested in the program so first I left in August 2007 and Keep The Dream196 was born thanks to the support from Save The Children (who had the vision to see what could be achieved, we didn't even have a name for the organization until the end of that year!) Zabe joined me in Jan 2008 and Keep The Dream196 was formally established.

Anyway, all of that has been said by way of introducing you to Elizabeth. An amazing person whom I am proud to call friend.

Take care

Louise

Avuxeni, minjani? Umfekile minjani!

My name is Elizabeth and I come from Shiluvane Village. I co-founded the beginnings of Keep The Dream196 in 2003 with Louise. In reality, Louise did all the setting up of the organization in 2007 but together we established the program and worked together training people, I did the monitoring and translation because of the different languages.

I have 3 daughters who are all involved with KTD196. One is a national commissioner of Cubs and works with WOSM (The World Scout Movement) she is also a Rover and a full-time employee of KTD196 as a Social Worker, the second one is a rover and also working for the Auditor General as an Auditor and finally the last one a meerkat in the making in reception at school.

I love watching kids grow from being teenagers to being young responsible adults. Although I trained as a Secondary Teacher, I completed my qualification at a time when there were too many teachers, and rather than sit at home and do nothing I volunteered as a Home Based Caregiver. I was quickly promoted to Coordinator because of my English skills and because of the extra competencies I have as a professional.  We were not employed back then, we volunteered to help in our communities because so many people were dying and I wanted to help.

I also saw how hard it was for the children, I opened my home to any and all children, my daughters would bring home kids every day that just needed to belong, to have good friends, it was easy to start with these children in 2003, I already had a group. We started with 13girls and six months later we had 60kids all passionate and loving the program. I was amazed. I didn't think it would be so popular. Back then it was hard because I had to learn the program and teach it the next week. I wasn't sure what I was doing but Louise encouraged me and together we made it work. My daughters were a great help as well. I still stay in touch with many of those children.

Because of the success of the program, I had the opportunity to be on TV on different programs which you can google if you want. Programs such as Beyond Classroom, Earned, Nhlalala Ya Rixaka, and News 24 all because of KTD196. I hate being interviewed, the children are the real stars of this program, not me.

I have learned it takes a community to raise a child, hence I have been very involved with training parents and Induna’s (Village Cheifs) to make sure this happens. It's important that we all look after every child regardless of bloodline.

In life, I have learned to it's important to give back, to make a difference where ever I can. Thank you for helping me do that, to make a difference. I know what could have happened to these kids without our support, you have saved lives. I have read Louise's reports and I know she says this but I want you to know it is SO TRUE!

Thank you for all you do for our kids. We are raising children together.

God Bless YOU

Elizabeth

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I am so grateful for this opportunity to thank you for your support, really you are making such a huge difference in the lives of the children and their families. What you are doing is so much more than just donating to a cause. You are saving lives. You are giving hope to children that otherwise would struggle.

We have just finished an evaluation, which I will forward on request when I receive the final document, and what came out more and more was HOPE was what KTD196 brought. Hope that the children can dream and realize those dreams. HOPE that they don't have to become like other kids in their communities, involved in drugs, gangs, pregnancy, etc. HOPE that life can be better and they can advance from their impoverished circumstances.

HOPE is a commodity that is priceless. That is what YOU bring!

It is time to introduce the people who make Keep The Dream196 possible!

We have some amazing staff, who go above and beyond for the children we serve. KTD196 is only as good as the staff we have and it's wonderful to be able to say I am very proud of the team we have, their dedication and commitment to the children are worthy of emulation. So much so that all of the staff are adamant they will continue with us as long as they are physically able despite their age. Such is their dedication.

What inspires this attitude? Implementing a program that works! The changes we see in the children are life-changing and enable the children to realize their dreams despite the structural obstacles in their way. This is turn spurs the staff on to greater effort because we know we are literally saving lives.

Catherine is a HOPE Carrier, she is a very diminutive little lady, she is less than 5ft tall. She could be blown over by a slight breeze but she is like a grizzly bear if you hurt one of her 100 or so kids. She is very quiet, speaks softly, very shy until you place her in front of children. Catherine has a wicked sense of humor, often we will be in a meeting and she will softly say something to her colleague sitting next to her and suddenly that person will erupt in fits of laughter and the meeting will have to stop until that person regains their composure. Catherine just quietly says something and that's the end of the meeting

She participates in the games she organizes, she stands and facilitators with the children, she engages with parents beautifully sharing the program and what support we require from the parents and basically the children just love her to bits. She is their mum away from home.

She is forever surrounded by 100s of kids, ok maybe not 100s but definitely lots and lots.

She is one of my hero's! Before Catherine joined KTD196 she was a Community Home-based Care volunteer for a local NGO. She worked in this role for over 10yrs caring for people who were sick and dying of HIV/AID's, cancer, end-stage organ failure. This is where I met Catherine because I was her coordinator. I watched this little force of nature bravely face a family with compassion and care, doing what she could in a resource-poor community and resource-strapped medical system and what broke her heart was the children being left behind.

She was one of 180 volunteers that I interviewed in 2003 to understand what their biggest heartache was regarding Home-Based Care. Unanimously, it was the children struggling with grief and lack of hope. Dropping out of school, getting pregnant, getting infected with HIV, getting into drugs, crime, or just losing passion for life.

Catherine was quickly someone I identified to bring on the team when KTD196 officially commenced in 2007. She remains a passionate advocate for the children to this day.

I hope, like me, you will enjoy meeting Catherine.

Hi my name is Catherine,  I come from Burgersdorp village and I have been working with Keep The Dream196 since 2009.

I enjoy being naughty to my co-workers.

Since starting work with KTD196 I've learned a lot about working with children, my own self-development as well, I have improved in English, computer literacy, and writing my own programs for the children.

I now have confidence in talking to children, parents, and teachers.

I love my job because I get to be with kids, I enjoy exercising and having fun with the children, and going camping because the kids get a chance to get away from often difficult situations and become just kids and have fun. I love seeing the kids change their negative behaviors to become good citizens.

I also love meeting people from different nations, different languages, and different cultures. Through KTD196 I have had the opportunity to host international volunteers from England in my home and to learn from them. I now have friends in other countries. No one else in my village can say that.

KTD196 does not treat me as an employee but as a family member.  We work together, it is sometimes heartbreaking work when kids we have known leave the program and go their own ways and follow their peers into drugs and crime. Those kids weigh heavily on my heart. It is usually those kids that just pop into the program and are not serious. They stay for a month or two and then leave because they don't want to commit. That is really hard, I take it personally.  I feel like I have failed them. It is a difficult balance at times because you want the best for them but in the end, it is their choice.

I no longer cry when I see children in crisis but now I can offer real help. Thank you for making that possible.

I love you

Catherine

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