Lifeskills for 8 children in South Africa - Pilot

Avuxeni, Minjani? Umfekile Minjane!

Welcome to a special celebration. Wednesday 24^th September is Heritage Day in South Africa. Here is a bit of history to the day.

In KwaZulu Natal ( a province in South Africa), 24 September was known as Shaka Day for most people, in commemoration of Shaka, the Zulu King of Southern Africa, on the presumed date of his death in 1828. Shaka played an important role in uniting the disparate Nguni clans into a cohesive Zulu nation. Each year people gather at the Shaka Memorial to honour him on this day.

The Public Holidays Bill presented to the post- Apartheid Government in 1994 did not include 24 September on the list of proposed public holidays. As a result of this exclusion, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), a South African political party with a large Zulu membership, objected to the bill. Parliament and the African National Congress (ANC) reached a compromise, and the day was given its present title and accepted as a public holiday now known as Heritage Day.

Heritage Day is when South Africans celebrate the diverse cultural heritage that makes up the "Rainbow Nation". It is the day to celebrate the contribution of all South Africans to the building of the country, but for KTD196, we gathered some of our kids together, and played traditional games, had traditional dancing, and traditional foods. We ate cow heels, tripe, mopani worms, chickens’ feet, all sorts of pap and samp (maize derivatives), morogko (a green spinach type weed with crushed peanuts), and what was great was my staff all gave money and cooked the meals. The kids got to eat for free.

It was a day of sensory overload, with loud music, bright colours, and amazing smells and tastes, plus being surrounded and loved on by over 320 kids. We thought that a 100 might come but WOWEEEEEE!! Every child wanting a hug or a photo with the mulungu (white lady). It was stunning. I hope you enjoy the photos and video of the day.

What blessed my soul was one young man around 12yrs of age, asked me if I was the boss of KTD196, he was knew to the program, and he THANKED ME FOR MY LEADERSHIP!!!! I was floored and to be honest my eyes started to leak a little bit. What a special thing to say especially so young.

Anyway, please watch the YouTube video and enjoy the celebrations. You are such a big part of all we do, your support bring such joy to the children, thank you for being such an important part of what we achieve.

God Bless you

Louise

Links:

• Celebration time for Heritage Day!
• Facebook is a great way to keep up to date with what we are upto
• Please drop us a line or if you have any questions!

Avuxeni, Minjani? Umfekile minjane!

I thought I would catch you up on some of our plans for 2026.

Next year, Keep The Dream196 (KTD196) is committed to deepening its impact and extending its reach across rural Limpopo, we have ambitious yet achievable goals which build on two and half decades of proven delivery in child and community development.

1. Youth Development and Leadership

KTD196 are planning to reach between 2-3,000 children and youth weekly through our Children’s leadership and life-skills programme. Weekly sessions build confidence, teamwork, problem-solving and resilience, ensuring children grow into responsible leaders in their schools and communities. To complement these sessions, intensive leadership and capacity-building workshops for youth with advanced leadership skills. This program will serve as incubators for child advocates and future mentors, creating a ripple effect of positive influence among their peers.

2. Child Protection and Participation

For KTD196, child protection and participation is a cornerstone goal. Every youth session will integrate safeguarding messages, empowering children to understand their rights, recognise risks, and seek help when needed. At the same time, troop and patrol councils will ensure that children are not just beneficiaries but decision-makers in programme planning. This participatory approach will strengthen advocacy skills and foster a culture were young voices shape community priorities. Facilitators and volunteers will have safeguarding training, ensuring consistent adherence to child protection standards across all sites.

3. Caregiver and Family Empowerment

Recognising that child wellbeing is closely tied to family stability, KTD196 will expand its network of Self-Help Groups (SHGs). The target is to establish 25 new SHGs, engaging around 500 additional women and theirfamilies in savings, loans, and mutual support. These groups will not only strengthen household economies but also provide a platform for parenting and child protection workshops. The goal of at least 70% of participants becoming income earners that improve both financial resilience and the ability of caregivers to provide safe, nurturing homes.

4. Community Engagement and Social Development

KTD196 will continue to work with Community Leaders (Induna’s) to provide circles of support to children to ensure their voices are heard and responded to positively through our engagement and mobilization. Action plans will be developed and implemented by the Induna’s with community stakeholders to encourage child engagement and address issues primarily related at community level.

5. Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL)

To ensure accountability and continuous improvement, KTD196 will strengthen its Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning systems in 2026. Impactreports will capture both quantitative results and human stories of transformation this will give partners transparent evidence of outcomes, while also ensuring that children and caregivers see tangible progress in their lives.

There is a lot of jargon associated with the work we do, but this is where we are and what our plans are for the future. I hope you are as excited as we are about where we are heading and what we are wanting to achieve. You are apart of all our plans, all our achievements, all our successes. Your support enables us to dream big and achieve big!

Thank you for continuing to walk on this journey with us.

Bless you

Louise

I am Asanda (twenty years old) from 1^st Mhagweni Scouts, University of Limpopo Rover’s Crew. I started Scouts later in 2013, so I have been in Scouts for about twelve years to date. A little background story, Scouts was introduced to me via school and I remember on my first day I just when there to check out what this Scouting is all about and when I got there I really enjoyed the activities we did for the day, for someone that is quite shy and introverted I felt free I was happy and I just wanted more of it that’s when I decided to fully commit to the movement.

My journey in Scouts has been quite amazing, I meet good leaders who have been playing a very good role in KTD196, I managed to make friends that made the journey to be very exciting and fun, and a lot of other amazing people. That was a huge deal for me as I really was terribly shy. I was empowered to do public speaking which terrified me in the beginning, but I became confident over time.

I learned leadership skills, I mentored the younger children, and we took control of our troop and managed it ourselves using the Spider Tool, a monitoring tool. We were responsible for the management, administration, planning, monitoring, and evaluation of our performance as a troop. I am learning about this at university now, but I knew about project management in high school. I learned about conflict management and resolution during scouts when we had difficult issues to overcome such as our adult leader was not representing scouts nicely in the community, so we asked her to leave. We found a replacement and trained the new adult. It was a difficult time for all of us, especially for me because I don’t like conflict, but I learned not to be scared of conflict. I still don’t like it, but I am no longer scared of it.

The activities such as camping, hiking, and living outdoors which I believe are the best and most exciting things about Scouts, they have contributed a lot to me being free and open around other people they really contributed to my personal growth. The most important lessons I learned are being kind, showing love and respect for the next person, and building a buddy system.

The Scouts project has been a good journey that needs commitment, I believe I have managed to stick around up to this far because I really love Scouts and the spirit just lives in me.

I am now studying for a Bachelor of Information Science, I want to work in anything to do with research and information knowledge management. I see knowledge management as a key industry for the future, possibly to become an information broker or business analyst.

Lastly, I am grateful for all the people who have supported us and stuck with Keep The Dream196 up to this far, you are making a very huge impact in so many children’s lives, I am just one of them.

Thank you

Asanda

Links:

• Please drop us a line or if you have any questions!
• Facebook is a great way to keep up to date with what we are upto