Lifeskills 2,743 vulnerable children South Africa

Dear All,

I just want to say thank you for your interest, your support, your engagement with Keep The Dream196. I hope and trust that you feel like you are part of the team. We literally could not do this work without you. You may not believe me, but I am telling you the truth. Your support means we can keep going when large funders reject our proposals or when their focus and strategies change. This has happened throughout the last 10yrs. We have lost excellent funders because of their institutional changes and its because of your support we can keep going.

So, THANK YOU! Thank you for having the same vision as KTD196. Thank you for seeing the value of the work we are doing and partnering with us. People ask me how can $10/month make a difference? Well, it does. If every one of our past donors gave $10/month we would have in excess of $2870 that equals R28,000 that is a good amount to keep us going for a month. $20/month will keep 5 kids in the program for one month. Currently we have over 2,000 children (we have close to 2,500 unfortunately we cannot get our monthly reports from a group of teachers who have just started with us, so rather than exaggerate I will say 2,000).

We are making a huge difference in the lives of our kids and our communities for the future. We are building tomorrow today. You and Keep The Dream196 are making a huge difference. Dont ever think you are just a donation to us. We would love you to get involved, I would love to receive feedback about our program, website, facebook posts etc. Your opinion matters.

Bless you all, please give feedback, I would hate to be a nuisance.

Louise

Hey guys. My name is Kopano, I'm 19 years old. I started with Keep The Dream196 in 2008 when I originally come from Mokgwathi Village- Limpopo.

Before I started, I wasn't a friendly person. I would always want to do things on my own and not share anything with anyone. I was an aggressive child and loved violence. I had friends who didn't care about school work and I had difficulties completing my own work because I wanted to fit in.

When I joined the Children’s Program, I was taught the scout laws and they changed my life completely although it wasn't easy at first. I now base my life on scout laws. I always thrive to complete my school work on time and I always work hard because I enjoy receiving excellent marks.

I am also proud to tell you that I am the most caring person ever. I care about people's well-being and I hate violence. I've drifted apart with my old friends because I've realized that they don't have the same love I have for education and that it might lead me to compromise my values and principles.

Unfortunately the program stopped operating in 2009, because of lack of  funding, so I couldn't go on with it. It was sad for me. In 2012 I moved to North West Province. I had to settle in and adapt with the new environment, school, teachers and friends. It was difficult at first but I managed to get through that stage and I got a chance to meet friends with the same vision as mine (ambitious and caring people).

In 2015, my love for the Children’s Program pushed me to make an effort with trying to find scouts near me. I texted Louise Batty on Facebook and asked her to find me scouts that where near to where I stayed and she did that.

I am and forever will be grateful to her for that. She gave me contacts of the North West District Commissioner. I called him and explained my situation and he arranged for me to meet with one of the Troop Scouters and I joined their group. Unfortunately I was 17 years by then so I couldn't be a scout but a Rover and I also became an "Akela". Unfortunately, it wasn't for long because I had a lot of school work to complete. Now I am planning to attend cub training which allows me to work with young people aged 7-10yrs. I have already attended one so far.

 Once I have finished studying professional nursing degree in just over a year, I will be free to complete my scouting training and take up my role as Akela properly. I am so excited. Thank you for reading my story, so far!