King's Kids / Koningskinders
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King's Kids or Koningskinders is an organisation that has a passion to help and support children in need mainly in the CW5 and CW6 areas of Vanderbijlpark. With thirty other Group Leaders all over the Vaal Triangle they are committed to this community project since September 1995.
There main goal is to uplift children through there involvement by exposing children to as many positive influences and experiences as possible and to break the spiral where kids blindly follow their parents’ example in their attitude towards, and their expectations of life.
They use there involvement and programs to enhance the development and forming of children. They try to open new worlds to the children to stimulate their minds and to lead to the development of a better community. Contact Christa Snyman or Philip Snyman for more information.
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LCA provided meat to 10 King's Kids families!
Before our hunt in June, we decided to hunt 2 additional animals and to process the meat into“braaiwors” and mince. We contacted “Koningskinders” or Kings Kids, which is also a projectunder LCF, to ask whether they have families to whom we can donate the meat.
We decided to divide the meat between 10 families. Each family received 1kg of mince and 1.2kg of “wors”. This is not much, but because we were not sure whether these families had the facilities to keep the meat cold, the decision was taken to provide 2 meals which could be eaten the same or the next day. I shot an impala and springbuck ewe and after processing the meat, it was taken to Christa to distribute to the families.
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| Everybody involved have full time jobs and are part taking only in their spare time. The organisation is a non-profit organisation whose funding exists solely on donations. |
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Not all the children have the same resources in life and there are different reasons why children get involved. Some cannot afford a vacation, some do not have privacy or private space, some need emotional support and some need support to cope in school.
Job scarcity, lack of skill and the current house prices are among the reasons why 2 or 3 families sometimes needs to share one house, or some of the families live in outbuildings or garages. Many of the children do not have access to basic facilities or support structures, including things like books for projects, help with school work, or even as essential as running water.
Because of the space and privacy problem Christa sponsor a home, Prism House, and made it available to the project. Lately most of the work is done from there.
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| Ongoing King's Kids activities
Every month during an open meeting all the activities are discussed, planned and evaluated. The children involved in any program or activity are carefully selected and or grouped from a register with detail information. Regularly food packets, toiletries, clothing, household items and furniture are distributed amongst the families. All the items are collected, as and when the need is determined. Most of the families do not have medical aid and are at the mercy of the government hospitals. Kids who need specialised help are identified and with the support of sponsors we are able to take them to private optometrists, specialists and doctors.
Extra classes are given to some of the children to help them with mathematics, reading or computer skills. Recreational support is also available, for example drama classes, which are aimed to help the kids developing a better self-image. Specific information they might need to do their school projects are supplied, since most of the kids do not have access to reference guides or the Internet.
The kids are exposed to as many different aspects of life as possible. One way of doing this is by taking kids on outings that will teach them about things they will never encounter in their limited environment. Such outings include trips to the Sharks Board, bird parks, the zoo and even the theatre. Some outings are aimed more towards the fun side of things, and these include trips to Water World, the ice rink and the movies. There are also days for specific events like riding quad-bikes, horse riding, playing paint ball, or just having fun at the pool. If the program is not too busy, monthly get-togethers are arranged. These will include functions where the children play games, do recreational activities like decoupage or making stuff from beads.
Camps are essential for bonding, guidance and to build foundations for future work and cooperation. During camps vital relationships are built. These relationships are the foundation on which further growth can take place. Mutual trust is only created if there is a strong bond between the Group Leaders and the children. Without this trust guidance in many aspects, topics and relationships cannot take place.
During the first semester of each year the 6 to 9 year olds go on a camp during a long weekend and again on a special outing in the second semester.
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Every month during an open meeting all the activities are discussed, planned and evaluated. The children involved in any program or activity are carefully selected and or grouped from a register with detail information. Regularly food packets, toiletries, clothing, household items and furniture are distributed amongst the families. All the items are collected, as and when the need is determined. Most of the families do not have medical aid and are at the mercy of the government hospitals. Kids who need specialised help are identified and with the support of sponsors we are able to take them to private optometrists, specialists and doctors.
Extra classes are given to some of the children to help them with mathematics, reading or computer skills. Recreational support is also available, for example drama classes, which are aimed to help the kids developing a better self-image. Specific information they might need to do their school projects are supplied, since most of the kids do not have access to reference guides or the Internet.
The kids are exposed to as many different aspects of life as possible. One way of doing this is by taking kids on outings that will teach them about things they will never encounter in their limited environment. Such outings include trips to the Sharks Board, bird parks, the zoo and even the theatre. Some outings are aimed more towards the fun side of things, and these include trips to Water World, the ice rink and the movies. There are also days for specific events like riding quad-bikes, horse riding, playing paint ball, or just having fun at the pool. If the program is not too busy, monthly get-togethers are arranged. These will include functions where the children play games, do recreational activities like decoupage or making stuff from beads.
Camps are essential for bonding, guidance and to build foundations for future work and cooperation. During camps vital relationships are built. These relationships are the foundation on which further growth can take place. Mutual trust is only created if there is a strong bond between the Group Leaders and the children. Without this trust guidance in many aspects, topics and relationships cannot take place.
During the first semester of each year the 6 to 9 year olds go on a camp during a long weekend and again on a special outing in the second semester.
During the first week of the December holidays the 10 to 13 year olds go on a week long camp. In 2007 they were privileged to take the kids to the sea, something not many of them have ever experienced before. The amazement on how large the sea really is and the salty water they experienced was a treasure. They are fortunate to have a very proficient kitchen team under the guidance of Anne-Marie. On a camp like this they supply an amazing 240 meals plus 240 snacks per day. During the camp the children visited the beach as frequent as possible and went on outings to the Sharks Board, Umgeni Bird Park and the uShaka Fun Park.
Every Sunday a group of children visits Life Church, and every alternative Friday Bible studies are presented. Children are being visited at their homes where Group Leaders are able to connect with the whole family. Some of the Group Leaders are trained to do counselling if needed. To keep strong relations the children are visited on their birthdays and when they or the family are sick.
Amongst the projects the organisation ran were the collection of 200 children's Bibles that were distributed to the children over a three year period. The Bible is written in such a way that kids can easily understand it. Other projects include the original upgrading of Prism House to be suitable for all the classes, projects and other needs.