07.18.17
By Megan Kelly

More from South Africa

On our third day in Johannesburg, the KYP team took us to meet Daisy.  Daisy runs a sewing co-op in Soweto that makes some of the Tailored for Education uniforms! She has worked hard to secure contracts with the government and is now a registered school uniforms provider.  In her one room co-op Daisy employs ten local women to fulfill the uniform orders!  Together they produce over 800 school uniforms a year.

Daisy’s shop illustrates why we have all of the uniforms made by local tailors.  We are not only ensuring that more children attend school, but also providing jobs to the community!

Our next stop was Ibhongo High School where we got to spend time with 15 students from KYP, who have all benefited from Tailored for Education.  The students had finished their exams for that day so we all went into a classroom to get to know each other better.

KYP group

As typical high schoolers, they worry about school work and find getting up for school difficult.  The girls were giggling with one another and were annoyed by the boys.  However, unlike our own high school days, their futures are uncertain and the pressure around them is high.  A lot of people they know do not go to school.  They openly discussed girls they know who get pregnant in order to receive a child support grant from the government, roughly $29 a month.  One young man wants to be a social worker to help children who are abused because he knows many.  They were each very aware of the obstacles they face and why school is the best path forward for EVERY CHILD.

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We were very surprised that the students were full of questions about Tailored for Education!  Primarily, they asked if we would provide more uniforms to children in the area because there are so many who need and want to go to school.

KYP boy

All of the students were very open (we are two very uncool strangers), honest and incredibly impressive.  Although the time was short, it was definitely one of the best parts of the trip!

Practicing what we preach!

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