Gender Equality South Africa Project #38463

Empowering Girls and Women as Mothers

by Keep The Dream196

Project Report | Sep 9, 2026
Camporee Prep, Clean Audit & Expansion!

By Louise | Managing Director

" Le kae? Re gona, le kae?" (Sepedi greeting for “How are you? I am fine!)

Things have been moving at full speed here at Keep The Dream196! From competitive field prep to structural milestones, here is what’s happening on the ground across our programs.

Excitement Building for Camporee Competitions

Our youth groups are currently hard at work honing their skills in navigation, first aid, pioneering, and team building as they prepare for the upcoming Camporee competitions. There is an incredible buzz in the air as the children practice together, supporting one another and pushing their boundaries to represent their troops with pride.

Clean Financial Bill of Health: Audit Finalised

We are pleased to share that our annual financial audit has officially been completed, receiving an unqualified opinion—the highest level of clean assurance an organization can receive. Financial transparency and stewardship are core to everything we do. If you would like a copy of our audit report to review, please simply ask—we are more than happy to share it with you! (director@keepthedream196.com)

Welcoming New Staff Costed by Dlalanathi

We have expanded our capacity on the ground thanks to our partners at Dlalanathi, who are fully funding the cost of a new staff member for our team. This extra hand on deck allows us to deepen our psychosocial and community empowerment work, ensuring our field teams remain strong and well-supported.

150 SHGs, 12 CLAs, and the Path to Federation

Our Self-Help Group (SHG) movement continues to thrive:

150 Self-Help Groups are actively meeting, saving, and supporting local households.
12 Cluster Level Associations (CLAs) are operating smoothly to guide and support local groups.
Federation Readiness: We are actively preparing to establish a regional Federation to represent and govern these community networks at a higher structural level.

To strengthen family ties and community ownership, we are also opening new youth and children's groups directly attached to these SHGs. This ensures the mothers and ladies are actively involved in facilitators' roles, supporting and championing their children's activities and safety.

Financial Headwinds & The Urgent Need for Recurring Donors

While our impact continues to expand, we are facing real financial challenges due to rising operational costs and shifting funding landscapes. To keep our field officers in the villages and our youth programs running uninterrupted, we urgently need regular monthly donors.

Even a small, predictable monthly commitment gives us the stability needed to plan ahead and protect our children and women. If you have been considering supporting KTD196 on an ongoing basis, now is the time where your recurring gift will make a vital difference.

Thank you for standing with us, believing in our vision, and walking alongside our children and communities!

Blessings

Louise

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Sep 2, 2026
Lasting Transformation doesn't just happen!

By Louise | Managing Director

Ronny 2026

Avuxeni Minjhane! (Hello!)

Real, lasting transformation in a child’s life doesn't happen overnight—it is built week by week, badge by badge, and year by year. For 23 years we have been working away quietly with over 33,000 children from Limpopo.

On our website’s Voice of the Child section, youth like Ronny share what happens when a child receives long-term support:

"I started Scouts in 2004. Before I joined the program, I was a bully... I was very nasty, I was a thief and a gambling fiend, I had many girlfriends, I was not a very nice person at all, all I had to look forward to at 18 was learning to smoke and dying of AIDS. Then I came to the KTD196 program and it taught me to stand up and say no. I became someone who is respected despite what I had done in the past, now I am a husband, father and university graduate and fully employed. I now have a voice, people listen to me... because of KTD196 I am a leader at work, in my home and in my community."

— Ronny, aged 32 yrs

Why Sustained Giving is the Engine of Long-Term Change

When Ronny joined Keep The Dream196 in 2004, he didn't transform in a single weekend camp. It took years of weekly troop meetings, dedicated field officer mentoring, leadership workshops, and safe environments for him to move from a troubled youth to a confident leader who advocates for others.

One-time gifts respond to immediate emergencies, but sustained monthly giving powers the multi-year journeys of children like Ronny and Sharmaine as they grow from Cubs to Rovers and beyond.

How You Can Help Build the Next Generation of Leaders

There are thousands more children waiting for this exact same chance, and we need your support now. By becoming a recurring donor on GlobalGiving today, you directly fund the consistent, uninterrupted presence of KTD196 field staff and scouting modules in rural Limpopo:

$15/month supplies ongoing badge materials and educational handbooks for a child group.
$30/month covers monthly transportation and support for field officers reaching remote villages.
$50/month sponsors full annual participation, child rights advocacy, and outdoor leadership camps for multiple vulnerable youth.

Every monthly pledge ensures that when a child enters our program this week, we can promise to stand by them until they graduate as confident community leaders.

That is the gift you bring, and that is the legacy you leave. We cannot do this on our own.

Blessings,

Louise

The Future looks bright for the next generation.

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Aug 26, 2026
Amplifying Youth Voices with Traditional Leaders!

By Louise | Managing Director

Induna's Listening intently to the Children.

Avuxeni! Minjhani? (Hello! How are you?)

I hope this update finds you well! Here in Limpopo, the real warmth this month is coming from a quiet revolution taking place right in the heart of our villages.

If you’ve been following our journey with Keep The Dream196, you know that changing deep-seated community perceptions takes patience. For years, a quiet belief has persisted among adults that children are too young to analyse community issues—let alone solve them. But this month, sitting under shaded gazebos alongside our local Indunas (traditional leaders), our youth proved just how brave, insightful, and brilliant they truly are.

This month, we set out to challenge that assumption—and what unfolded surpassed anything we could have hoped for.

Sitting Down Together

We partnered with two of our local Indunas (traditional leaders) and asked each of them to bring 20 children together for a guided safety mapping workshop. What happened next brought genuine joy to our field team. Unexpectedly the Induna councils were present as well, the Induna’s didn’t just host the event; they created a sanctuary. They set up shaded gazebos, arranged tables and chairs, and cooked meals to nourish the kids through an intensive, eight-hour day. This is astounding, children and their opinions are not valued and yet here we have traditional leadership funding and inviting warmly children to participate as they would adults, the respect shown is monumental.

The Hard Realities on the Maps

With markers in hand, the children drew their world, mapping out where they felt secure and where fear lived. Tragically, the places meant to protect them were often marked as the most dangerous:

Schools as Hazard Zones: Children spoke with raw honesty about fearing for their safety at school—not only due to bullying and local gangsterism, but out of terror that dilapidated classroom rooves might collapse on their heads during lessons.
Community Exploitation: They called out a local spaza shop that illegally sell cigarettes to students and encourage them to skip class and hang around the storefronts.
Other concerns regarding safety: The children identified areas where they didn’t feel safe in the villages from adults, dogs, gangsters, and thieves.
A Cry for Help: Most poignant of all, one child courageously marked their own home as an unsafe space. Our team is working directly and confidentially to follow up and ensure this child receives the protection and care they need.

A Shift in Hearts and Minds

The highlight of the entire process was watching the Induna council. For eight straight hours, these traditional leaders sat captivated, astonished by the depth, insight, and problem-solving brilliant youth brought to the table. The old perception melted away in real-time.

Before ending the day, youth and leaders crafted concrete Action Plans side-by-side. Together, they are now taking their concerns to the School Governing Bodies to push Public Works for infrastructure repairs, joining forces with the Community Policing Forum to curb school-zone violence, and holding local shopkeepers accountable.

The Momentum Ahead

Inspiration travels fast. Already, six other Indunas have reached out, eager to bring this same youth-led mapping process to their villages. Backed by the energy of the local Scouts and our Self-Help Groups, the future of child protection in our community looks brighter than ever.

Thank you for standing with these incredible young leaders as they reshape their world!

None of these breakthroughs—the raw honesty of our youth, the change of heart among traditional leaders, or the concrete action plans taking shape—happen in a vacuum. They happen because you choose to stand behind this work.

When you donate to Keep The Dream196, you aren't just funding an event. You are providing the resources for our field facilitators to guide these intensive 8-hour sessions, the logistics to bring children safely to the table with their elders, and the urgent, confidential follow-up care for a child who courageously speaks up when home isn't safe.

Your generosity bridges the gap between a young person feeling invisible and sitting eye-to-eye with their village leaders to change their community's story.

Right now, six more Indunas are waiting to open their villages to this exact process. Your support is the engine that allows us to say yes—ensuring more young voices across Limpopo are heard, protected, and empowered to lead.

Thank you for believing in our children and giving them the platform they deserve!

Blessings

Louise

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