Working with the Vukuzenzele community in Philippi since 2009, we have joined hands with families and the wider community to create the circles of safety and support that young children need to thrive and realise their potential. From the beginning, the vision of the project has been to work closely with families and the community to ensure that the support for children does not end when the school day is over.
First and foremost, adults need to experience safety and support themselves in order to hold safe spaces and circles of support for children. To support parents, we are currently offering parenting skills workshops, informal conversations, and support groups. The intention is to engage parents in the life of the school, while providing them with skills and tools [literally like a toolbox] to manage as parents.
In 2024, we then partnered with the sp(i)eel arts therapies collective to offer trauma-informed creative arts workshops for parents, teachers, children and community members. These workshops are enabling people of all ages to experience safety and explore their creativity together, gently building trust and strengthening relationships within the family and the community. Through all these activities, we are weaving a tapestry of support and community building together. When the environment is safe and nurturing for young children it has positive ripple effects for everyone!
Working hand in hand with the family and community is central to our theory of change. Creating circles of support around young children is the guiding intention of our work. What do we actually do?
We offer regular parenting skills workshops where just like a builder, a carpenter, a designer, an artist needs a set of tools and materials to do the best job possible. So does a parent. We guide and facilitate workshops that give families the guidance to learn tools and build up a set of resources that help in caring and educating their young children. In South Africa, we are in dire need of caring, active and engaging citizens that value and invest in our country. This means giving children the right to their childhood and having spaces of safety that they can thrive, learn and explore. The right to childhood and be a child is a foundational building block in life, and we are doing everything we can for children to have a safe and happy childhood.
The parents and wider community of the child are absolutely critical in making that a reality.
Non-Profit Organisation:
NPO 064-942
Public Benefit Organisation:
PBO 930 035 321
Trust: IT1251/2007
