Artisan skills for 8 youth, South Africa

I am ecstatic that you have chosen to partner with Keep The Dream196 to continue to change the life outcomes of these amazingly beautiful children in Limpopo Province. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANKYOU! Children are the future, their ability to dream determines their future and because of you, the children we work with are not just dreaming but realising those dreams!

I am happy to share with you how your funds are stewarded. As a partner, we believe it is important to let you know your resources are well managed and truly serving the children.

If you would like a complete copy of our Annual Financial Report, please just email me on keepthedream196@gmail.com

Last year in 2019, close to 90% of monies raised was used to deliver the children's program, the parenting program and the Induna’s program (village leadership).

Over the years we have worked diligently to deliver impactful program effectively and stewarding your generous support continues to our goal as well.  We have a goal to expand our reach this coming year ensure we successfully reach even more children in need of Keep The Dream 196 program. The need is so great but we have the solution! Together we can do this thing!

Under project costs we have activities such as:

• Implementation of the Children's Program
• Leadership Training for children
• Leadership Training for the adults to be able to run our program
• Sustainable Development Goals awareness and advocacy including: Zero Hunger (the children who participated in this activity created a community food garden for their villages (55 villages); Improved wellness and health (the children attended training on health education and health promotion principles which they apply to their lives); Improved literacy (the children on a monthly basis read to other children in their local creches or preschools)
• Boys2Men training - this training helps the boys understand what is the role of a man in todays society. Sadly only 10% of the boys who attended the training had fathers. Of this only 1% had fathers they viewed as role models. The lack of real fathers and real men that are willing to step up and mentor, guide, lead and provide for their families is so obvious when we hear the heart breaking stories of these young men who often act out in violence and abuse because that is what they know. This training helps them understand the patterns associated with abuse and how to decide to be a different man and not fall in to the same pit falls their fathers had.
• We also have implemented training for over 300 parents on Child Protection and helping children move on their journey without being hijacked on their road. Parents find this training very confronting when understanding the depth of their role in parenting and supporting their children.
• We also have worked with over 60 Induna's (village Chiefs) in creating safe spaces for children in their villages. We challenged the Induna's to create action plans which they will implement in their villages to ensure the safety of the children who reside there.

To name just a few activities.

What this means in terms of outcome is that we, our programs and services, have been an important part of the many communities in which we work, and with your continued help, we can continue to provide lasting impact in the lives of these children, their families, the townships and beyond. Thank you! We could not do all that we do without you.

Thank you so much for your continued support and encouragement it really is very special. To those who are wondering about my mum, she is doing well. As you can imagine she is struggling to adapt to her new surroundings but apart from that she is physically getting stronger every day.

Thank you once again all

Blessings

Louise

"Everything you have taught us has been very helpful. There were two children in my community who were labelled as thieves; the community disliked the two young boys. I remembered one of the training KTD196 did with us about children that children are not bad once they start stealing it is their way of communicating with us that they need help. I decided to adopt them, I would cook for them every single day and showed them love and respect. The community tried to warn me against the idea and told me to stop but I continued taking care of them.

One day I asked them why they steal and they told me that they stole because they are hungry and just want to eat. Their mother is an alcoholic and doesn’t have time for them that is why they steal. Now they are all grown up, they are responsible young men. One is working and the other one is currently studying in Phalaborwa. Their mother is also doing so much better; she has a house and has better relationship with her family and relatives. She is happy and respected by the community. The boys still visit me and have kept in touch. KTD196 has taught me another way“ Induna from Nkambako Village

Links:

• Why not view our YouTube Channel
• Or browse through our website?
• You can stalk us on Facebook?

GOOD GRIEF,

It’s the end of January already? I can’t believe it? I blinked, that’s all I did and we went from Christmas to the 30th January and I didn't even realise. My humble apologies, I returned from my annual trip home to Australia on the 28th December and then the world just sped up, exponentially!

To everyone who has joined us over this period for the first time, welcome to Keep The Dream196. To those who have been involved with us over the years, thank you so very much for your support of our program, you make KTD196 possible. My heart is bursting with gratitude to you all. I cant tell how wonderful it is to start a new year afresh, seeing our kids again and looking at almost 365 days of possibilities and hope in their eyes!

In all the flurry I realise I need to give some updates about our achievements over the past year however I will do that piece by piece so as to not overwhelm you.

I am really ecstatic to report in 2019 we had no teenage pregnancy reported. That is phenomenal and it is due to your support! By giving you are helping us realise our goals but more importantly you are helping the children reach theirs. How is it connected? Well, the support you give us translates into us being able to run our program effectively, so instead of seeing 13% of our girls become pregnant in 2019 statistically we have seen none! Currently we have approx. 1,500 that number increases to approx. 2,000 children during the year. I am sure you will agree with me that is phenomenal.

Also, the fact that our kids state they are practising abstinence and focussing on their goals means that the spread of HIV/AIDS is dramatically reduced to 0% in our program. Think of all the heart ache, chronic illness, and acute health issues which have been avoided because of your support. THANK YOU does not cut.

I really look forward to working together in 2020, this year is going to be phenomenal. Please if you have any questions or queries I would love to hear from you. Drop me a line.

Blessings all and thank you for getting involved, supporting us and making a difference in the lives of many children


Louise

ps NEWs, over the holiday period I was assisted by one of our supporters Mark McNamara to set up a YouTube channel, please scroll through the different videos to hear from the children in their own words the impact KTD196 has made in their lives.

Links:

• Our YouTube Channel
• Why not visit our website?
• Why not visit our facebook page?