Standing strong in the face of adversity

For 100 years, Scripture Union KwaZulu-Natal (SUKZN) has been a beacon of hope, faith, and transformation in the lives of young people.

The Sakh’ulutsha initiatives (empowering young people) include HIV awareness and prevention and teen pregnancy prevention, among others, aiming to fill a values vacuum through behaviour change courses.

However, a recent withdrawal of international funding has presented an unexpected and difficult challenge.

This has affected the family-strengthening programme Let’s Talk, which provided essential education and support to young girls in KZN.

Communications and admin assistant, Angel Mqadi said that losing the programme was a painful setback not just for SUKZN but also for the communities they serve.

“Yet, rather than allow this challenge to halt our work, we have adapted with resilience, shifting our focus and broadening our impact in ways that continue to make a real difference. Through every obstacle, we remain committed – we are still here, still standing, and still serving.”

She says they will continue to offer a variety of support services to aid in holistic youth development, such as a literacy support programme, behaviour change programmes, leadership development, and fostering spiritual growth.

She added that even though they have lost a major source of funding, their vision remains unwavering to work together with churches to see one million young lives transformed by Jesus and filled with hope.

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