Thank you for being a part of the team! THANK YOU for choosing to make a difference to the children we serve! I really and truly believe that the work we are doing with the children is shaping the future for the nation of South Africa. We are raising up young men and women who will not accept the status quo, we are raising up leaders who will not accept corruption and chaos as a way to govern. Together we are changing the face of this nation, one child at a time.
You are an integral part of this change.
I want to share about our plans for the next 5years in particular. So that you can see the impact of the work we are doing as well.
Self Help Groups (SHG’s) are funded to continue till 2026. Each year we need to start 25groups of between 15-20women who are the poorest of the poor. That equates to between 1,875 to 2,500 families are going to be benefitting from this program of savings and loans with the view to create small businesses who employ others in their communities. With more money comes more options for people. They will no longer need to beg for food or money for school for their children but provide in their own right and have the cash flow to start small enterprises. Currently, we have 34 groups in process.
Last year I shared about the Children’s Rights Situational Analysis (CRSA), that took us a year to complete, I have attached it below for those who are interested in the results. Anyway, we will be training 7 groups of parents; plus, working into 7schools with the teachers, principals and district circuit managers; and the Induna’s (village leaders plus the Chief) to promote child participation at home, school through (Learner Representative Councils) and within the community because at the moment, the children don’t have any voice.
The children all identified issues in the CRSA regarding abuse experienced, fears that they have regarding their safety at school and in the communities where they live. This is what we are wanting to address but first we have to prepare the ground to hear their voices, then to assist the adults in understanding why their voices are so valuable and what their roles are as duty bearers to meet the needs of their children. This is going to be a long term investment in their futures and hopefully will have the short term impact of resolving the abuse and fears the children currently have.
On my agenda, I want to assist the undocumented foreign nationals, especially those children/adults who have been born in this country and have been refused citizenship, which is a basic human right. I have reached out to some organizations who are specialists in this area so that the process will go as smoothly as possible.
We will be continuing with our Children’s Program and expanding the program with the addition of two more young men to be Field Officers in the interim. We will gauge their effectiveness and move from there.
Well we certainly have our work cut out for us. We have partial funding for all of this work, through GG you are contributing to the funding as well. I hope this excites you as we navigate the next 5years. It is fairly daunting dealing with culture and indifference, (the adults where their roles as duty bearers is concerned) however the kids and you give us the strength to move forward on their behalf to see real change in their lives.
Thank you so much for being a part of the change. You are phenomenal. That is not hyperbole, that is the truth. We could not achieve what we do, without YOU!
Nkomo swenene Ngopfu! (thank you so much)
Louise
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