Registration number: 174-739 NPO
A child drawing, September 2022
Why are donations needed
Families in rural South Africa experience a lot of hardship. Many cannot afford to feed their families, buy school uniform, or pay for transport to register their child’s birth. Kids Who Care uses 100% of all donations to provide families with these basic needs. All of the funds go directly to the families, as there are no overhead or adminstration costs for the Kids Who Care NPO.
Who we are
Kids Who Care is a South African NPO founded by a team of academics conducting research on challenges in South African families. In the course of our research, we come across many families experiencing poverty, ill-health, food insecurity, or lack of birth registration. Kids Who Care funds allows us to provide short-term relief to these families while we link them up with local services.
Young Carers Projects
The Young Carers Projects are a set of research studies on adolescents and their families in South Africa run by researchers based at the Universities of Edinburgh, Oxford, Witwatersrand and Cape Town. These studies conduct groundbreaking research on intergenerational family challenges to inform policy and practice and improve outcomes for all adolescents and their families.
Changes We Have Made
| Case 1 A 12-year old girl came to the attention of the study team through a complaint by her teachers that she never wore uniform to school and attended barefoot. Following an assessment by the research team the child’s family was surviving on a single child support grant R470 in a household with one adult who was unable to work because of disabilities and two grown children unable to find a job and the 12-year old child. The adults were only able to eat every second day and the child only had one meal a day. A referral was made to the local hospital for a medical assessment for the mother. This confirmed she was unable to work and entitled to a Government Disability Grant. The mother was assisted with the application for the Disability Grant. In the meanwhile, Kids Who Care supported the family with one set of school uniform and school shoes and a monthly food parcel | Case 2 The study team found a 2-year old emanciated child by the side of the road while they were collecting data. The child was one of 10 who were cared for by an older sister while the mother worked away on a farm to earn money. Because the mother was from Mozambique she had no valid documentation in South Africa and was only paid a very low salary. She could only travel to be with her children for one weekend per month. None of the children were registered at birth because the mother thought she would be deported because of her expired travel document. The study social worker did an assessment and referred the youngest child to the hospital for treatment. Monthly food parcels will be bought to sustain the family while the mother travels back to Mozambique to renew her documentation (also paid for by Kids Who Care). Once she has valid documents, a late registration of births can be carried out for all children. When they have their birth certificates they will qualify for a child support grant. The social worker also alerted the school so that the children can receive extra school meals while the paperwork is being processed. |
What your donation can fund
| A food parcel to feed a whole family for 2 weeks | 2100 ZAR (equivalent to 102 GBP / 118 EURO / 120 USD) |
| Reissuing of identity documentation | 140 ZAR (7 GBP / 8 EURO / 8 USD) |
| Complete set of school uniform including shoes | 560 ZAR (27 GBP / 31 EURO / 32 USD) |
| Transport to the Department of Home Affairs for registration of birth | up to 250 ZAR depending on the location of home (12 GBP / 14 EURO / 14 USD) |
Every donation helps to support a family
Show that you care
Kids Who Care South Africa 