Katlehong is a working class township characterized by high numbers of single parent headed households and most of these are mothers who work far away from the township, leaving for work very early in the morning and often returning late in the evening. This project will support over 200 children in the township of Katlehong in South Africa to be in safe adult care after school as well as to play soccer which keeps them active, healthy and builds social cohesion.
Katlehong is a township located on the East Rand of the Gauteng Province in South Africa. The township is characterized by high unemployment and poverty levels. Recently Statistics South Africa revealed that up to 55% of South Africa's population Iive in dire poverty and this is especially significant in townships like Katlehong. It is also characterized by high single parent households, primarily mothers, who work very far from home for very low wages which has an impact on their children.
Ahisanang Sechaba is a registered community based organization located in Katlehong. The organization provides after school care and activities for school kids. This keeps the children safe and deters them from drugs and crime while building social cohesion. It also supports parents, especially working mothers by safely caring for the children while the parents are at work. Currently the organization looks after over 200 children daily by involving them in soccer activities.
This project has been in existence for over 6 years and has had a positive impact on over 200 children. Children are safe and have built cohesion to look out for each other even outside of this project. Soccer keeps the children active and healthy, and their success as evidenced by the many trophies they have won boosts their self esteem. For the community, it brings benefits such as parents feeling comforted that their young children are safe and it could reduce crime and drug abuse.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
