Katlehong Update

Last week I had to write up reports for some of our sponsors about the families we are helping in Katlehong. I thought I would share some of them with you.

This is a family whose mother has died. The grandfather is raising the children but they have nothing. Its really sad. In South Africa, children have to wear uniforms to school. These children don't have the money to purchase them. This means that they get in trouble and are made fun of at school. The grandfather has been trying to get government grants for money but has been unable to get them because he does not have birth certificates for the children. He's been trying to get the birth certificates but has been getting the run around. Thats a very common issue here.

This is a family we are helping to feed and provide housing for. They are very sweet children and all have big dreams for their lives. Two want to be doctors and one wants to be a certified accountant. The sad part is that in reality those are probably impossible dreams. The education in the townships is not what it should be and in there is probably little chance that they could come up with the money to pay for any kind of higher education. I asked the one girl what made her life different then other peoples. She responded that others live in nice homes while there's is small and in her words 'not so nice'. She said the most difficult thing was when her mom didn't have enough money to send her lunch and she had to go into the kitchen at school and ask for food. Its hard for us to imagine not having enough money to give our kids a lunch to take to school.

These children are being raised by their grandmother. She is a very old woman. All of her children have died and she is the only one left to care for the children. This is a very common thing in South Africa. The issue becomes what happens to them when the grandmother dies? Many of these children are left to raise themselves.