Boikanyo means to have Faith. The NGO was named after 2 inspirational souls: Boikanyo, a dynamic special 8 year old child, and Dion Herson a philanthropist who loved giving to others.
OUR VISION:
Nurturing vulnerable and at-risk youth, whether they are able-bodied or differently-abled. We view children holistically, we believe a child has a greater chance if issues are tackled from more than one angle.
OUR MISSION:
We alleviate poverty through networking and partnering with experts in the field. We work a lot with schools, focusing on keeping impoverished children from dropping out by augmenting maths and life skills programs.
Boikanyo the Dion Herson Foundation’s first project was focused on food security and upskilling caregivers in the community. We planted a 1000m sq vegetable garden at Sediba Thuto High Primary School in Soweto in 2012. This vegetable garden project afforded us opportunities to gain insight into the multi-factorial challenges facing young people growing up in dire poverty. The children (and caregivers) whom we assist generally live in child/grandmother and sick mother headed households. Poverty, starvation, crime, abuse, sugar daddies, poor health care, sub optimal schooling and drugs are but some of the many problems they face.
One undeniable fact remains; without education the children of the area have a bleak future. Of the 2019 matric (grade 12) graduation group, only 37% of the children who enrolled in grade 1 wrote the final exams, 12 years later. There are a multitude of problems these children live with, which lessens the likelihood of completing school.
OUR IMPACT:
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.