Community Programmes
Strengthening Connections Between Children and Caregivers Through Play.
The Play for Communication programme is a three-day interactive workshop to assist caregivers, parents, and community members in using play to connect with children, encourage emotional expression, and improve communication. Through activities such as doll-making and storytelling, participants explore the power of play in listening, understanding, and supporting children’s emotional and social development.
The workshop focuses on understanding different types of play and how they help improve cognitive, emotional, and social development. It provides training in listening techniques, empathy-building, and effective communication with children. The programme also encourages self-reflection to help participants reconnect with their own childhood experiences and gain a better understanding of children’s needs. Caregivers are provided with skills and strategies to integrate play-based communication into their daily interactions with children.
This programme is beneficial as it helps caregivers build stronger emotional connections with children, supports children’s well-being, confidence, and self-expression, and promotes play as a tool for healing, learning, and relationship-building. These meaningful interactions made through play create environments where children feel valued and understood.
Protecting children starts with awareness, empathy, and action.
The Child Protection Awareness programme offers essential guidelines for safeguarding children from abuse and neglect, providing caregivers, educators, and community workers with the necessary knowledge to respond to child abuse disclosures responsibly.
The programme focuses on key areas such as understanding child abuse, including definitions, types, and warning signs. It also covers handling disclosures through empathetic responses, ensuring a safe environment, and understanding legal reporting requirements. Participants learn about the emotional and physical needs of abused children, promoting support, stability, and reassurance.
The training also includes an overview of child protection laws and reporting responsibilities, teaching children about personal safety and boundaries, addressing secondary trauma and self-care, and understanding referral processes to crisis centres and support services.
The training aims to increase awareness of child protection issues and help adults to create safe environments for children, building trust and resilience while establishing strong support systems for both children and caregivers.
Protecting children starts with prepared hands and open hearts.
The Child Protection Further Training programme is designed to provide participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to help children in at-risk situations. It emphasises the importance of emotional preparedness, self-care, and establishing proper support systems before engaging in child protection work.
The objectives of the training are to empower participants to effectively handle abuse disclosures, familiarise them with the reporting process and community resources, and ensure that both the child and the adult helper receive necessary support.
Key training components include understanding child abuse, including definitions, types, and emotional impact; handling disclosures through interactive exercises to build empathy and trust; the reporting process, outlining the steps to take when a child discloses abuse; supporting abused children by identifying and fulfilling their emotional, psychological, and physical needs; and promoting self-care and secondary trauma awareness by recognising signs of burnout and implementing coping strategies.
Through discussions, role-playing, and group exercises, participants learn how to provide a safe environment for children while also taking care of their own well-being.
True empowerment starts from within and extends to supporting others and building stronger communities.
This two-and-a-half-day empowerment programme is for community members to assist children and families within their society. The programme aims to help participants acknowledge their self-worth and individual impact while refining self-awareness, self-esteem, and leadership capabilities. It also focuses on strengthening communication and listening skills.
Structured around three core areas: ME-POWER for self-awareness, self-esteem, and recognising personal strengths; YOU-POWER to learn how to support and empower others; and US-POWER encouraging collective action to create a positive impact in the community.
Key aspects of the workshop include self-reflection exercises to understand personal strengths and limitations, leadership development through trust-building activities, art tasks to visualise growth, hero’s journey exercises to identify personal potential, community action planning to help local children, the buddy system for mutual support, and vision boarding to establish personal and professional goals.
The workshop concludes with self-assessment, group discussions, and personal action commitments to make a lasting impact. Participants commit to three steps: setting a personal growth goal, helping a friend or family member, and initiating a group project to benefit the community. True empowerment starts from within and extends to supporting others and building stronger communities.
Using Play to Support Children Through Loss and Trauma
Sustaining children through loss and trauma using play is the focus of the Foundation Play Skills (FPS) Training. It helps participants guide individual children through the bereavement process using play as a communication and emotional support tool. The training is valuable for caregivers, teachers, and community workers working with bereaved or trauma-affected children.
By integrating play into caregiving and education, safe spaces are created for children to feel heard and protected as they process their experiences.
Key focus areas include understanding how children experience and express grief, utilising play for emotional support, developing active listening and communication skills, following a structured 7-session approach to uplift children through bereavement and emotional regulation, and emphasising self-care for caregivers dealing with trauma-affected children.
This training is vital as it helps children process loss and trauma in a safe, playful way, provides practical tools for caregivers to meet children’s emotional needs, builds stronger relationships between adults and children, and promotes self-care and emotional resilience for caregivers.
Play is not just fun—it is a critical part of learning and healing.
Our Advanced Play Skills Training is a structured programme designed to help individuals with essential skills to engage, support, and guide groups of children and youth through play-based activities.
This five-day training provides participants with practical tools to encourage emotional expression, social connection, and personal growth in children within a group context. Each session includes structured learning, interactive activities, and self-reflection to promote meaningful engagement.
Throughout the training, participants delve into topics such as the role of play in child development, children’s fundamental needs, self-awareness, perspective-taking, and facilitating group work.
Advanced play skills like Collage and Lifeline Exercise are introduced to help children express themselves and process emotions effectively.
By taking part in this programme, you can build trust and connections with children through play, create safe spaces for emotional expression, assist children in developing resilience and coping strategies, and facilitate meaningful group activities that support growth and development.
The Trauma-Informed Children’s Group Process is a six-week programme for children who have dealt with trauma. It offers a safe, structured environment for emotional expression, building self-awareness, and building coping skills through creative activities, storytelling, and group discussions.
This programme helps children to understand and process their emotions, develop healthy coping strategies and self-expression, and have a sense of safety, belonging, and resilience.
Here’s a breakdown of the weekly sessions:
- Week 1: Introduction & Body Mapping – Establishes group rules and discusses how trauma impacts thoughts, feelings, and physical responses.
- Week 2: My Helping Hand – Identifies trusted people and support systems in the child’s life.
- Week 3: Feelings in the Body & Coping Strategies – Helps children recognise emotions and create coping mechanisms.
- Week 4: Group Art Activity – Promotes teamwork and community by tree painting.
- Week 5: Unique Hearts Exercise – Encourages creative expression to explore personal emotions and experiences.
- Week 6: Affirmation & Celebration – Wraps up with personal reflections, affirmations, and a celebratory group gathering.
The Family Bereavement Groups provide caregivers with valuable tools and techniques for assisting bereaved children. The programme begins by addressing the healing needs of caregivers and then guides them through structured sessions focused on helping children cope with loss through activities like play, communication, and emotional care.
The goal of this support group is to give caregivers play strategies that help grieving children in navigating their emotions and building emotional connections. It also highlights the importance of creating a safe environment where children can express their grief openly and develop healthy coping mechanisms.
By understanding the child’s needs across physical, emotional, social, cognitive, and spiritual aspects, caregivers can establish trust and effective communication, use play for emotional expression, and build self-esteem through positive reinforcement.
Effective strategies for helping children in coping with loss include age-appropriate discussions about death, using creative outlets for processing grief, addressing common emotions, and supporting children through funeral preparations and farewells. The programme emphasises the validation of children’s emotions, establishing stability through routines, promoting resilience, and encouraging creative grief expression.
For caregiver self-care, the programme focuses on recognising the emotional impact of grief, providing stress management techniques, and creating a supportive network for caregivers to share their experiences.
Equipping caregivers with knowledge and confidence to guide their teens in making healthy life choices.
The Family Support Group provides caregivers, parents and extended family members with resources to strengthen their relationships with teenagers. This programme focuses on promoting healthy communication practices and creating safe spaces for families to discuss Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) topics sensitively.
Through interactive group sessions, caregivers engage in activities to improve their communication skills with teenagers, facilitate open dialogues about SRHR, and encourage trust and positive connections with adolescents. The programme offers valuable insights into teenage development, consent, and the significance of healthy relationships. Caregivers also participate in Thandanani Time, a weekly session dedicated to practicing learned skills with their children.
Key components of the programme include guided sessions by facilitators to encourage open sharing and active participation, interactive activities such as role-playing and storytelling, education on consent and SRHR for effective conversations on sensitive subjects, and joint caregiver-teen sessions designed to strengthen communication and bonding through shared experiences. Ultimately, the Family Support Group gives caregivers the necessary knowledge and skills to guide teenagers in making informed and healthy life choices.
Creating rich early learning opportunities and building a strong foundation for lifelong learning.
Creating rich early learning opportunities and building a strong foundation for lifelong learning are the core objectives of the Playmat Training Programme. This initiative is aimed at helping caregivers with the necessary skills and confidence to act as their child’s first teacher. By showing the significance of play-based learning, the programme looks to improve a child’s cognitive, emotional, and physical development, especially those below the age of six.
The Playmat Training Programme is tailored for parents and caregivers interested in growing early childhood development through accessible and meaningful methods, preparing children for an ECD Centre and beyond. The key features of the Playmat Project include community-based learning sessions conducted over an 8-week period, engaging caregivers and children in facilitated activities. Caregivers are taught how to create educational toys and activities using recycled materials for play-based developmental growth.
By promoting responsive interactions that strengthen bonds between caregivers and children, the programme highlights the importance of trust, love, and learning in early childhood development. Through interactive play, caregivers can stimulate a child’s curiosity, language skills, and problem-solving abilities, providing essential early learning experiences. The use of a durable playmat as a designated safe interactive learning space at home showcases the programme’s straightforward and accessible methods. The trauma-informed approach ensures that play contributes to emotional resilience and the development of social skills.
Together, we can turn everyday waste into valuable learning opportunities.
Our Toys4Playmat Workshop is an important part of the PlayMat Programme, which helps parents, caregivers, and educators with innovative ways to repurpose everyday recycled household items into entertaining and educational toys for children. This workshop gives participants the knowledge and skills to transform common household waste into engaging toys that directly contribute to early learning and development.
In the workshop, hands-on activities demonstrate how simple materials like plastic bags, egg cartons, bottle caps, and cardboard can be repurposed into various stimulating toys. These toys include building blocks and balls to improve coordination and motor skills, threading and posting activities to improve fine motor control, skipping ropes and movement games to encourage physical activity and spatial awareness, as well as homemade picture books to encourage early literacy and creativity.
There are plenty of benefits in participating in this workshop. Attendees gain practical skills to create cost-effective educational tools, promote sustainable practices by reusing waste materials, strengthen bonds with children through interactive play, and encourage a love for learning in a fun and engaging way. The workshop aims to make learning accessible, creative, and sustainable for all participants.
Research has consistently shown that children thrive when they have access to play-based learning, as it enhances brain development, social and emotional skills, problem-solving abilities, language and communication, as well as fine and gross motor skills. Together, we can turn everyday waste into valuable learning opportunities.
Kids Clubs are designed for youth leaders aged 18–30 to provide them with the skills and knowledge required to establish and operate community-based Kids Clubs. These clubs are secure spaces where vulnerable children can develop resilience, life skills, and positive relationships.
The training process involves an interactive workshop, engaging activities, and real-world volunteer experiences, ensuring that participants are well-prepared to make a meaningful difference in children’s lives.
The objectives of the programme are as follows:
- Empower youth leaders to engage children through structured activities.
- Establish a safe and inclusive environment for children to freely express themselves.
- Promote child participation and leadership in community-based initiatives.
- Address holistic child development, encompassing emotional, social, and physical well-being.
- Encourage volunteerism and mentorship for sustainable impact.
The key focus areas of the training include comprehending the purpose, structure, and benefits of Kids Clubs, mobilising local resources and stakeholders for community involvement, making sure all interactions are safe and ethical through an understanding of child protection and rights, developing leadership and team coordination for volunteer management, and enabling children to cope with challenges through the promotion of resilience and life skills.
Play Bubbles: Encouraging Child Development Through Play.
Play Bubbles is about creating safe space for groups of children to meet weekly where their play is supervised by a caring responsive adult. This promotes early childhood development by facilitating communication, storytelling, and interactive play sessions between caregivers and children. The initiative focuses on helping with essential social, emotional, and cognitive skills through engaging activities that encourage holistic growth.
The “Ithuba Lokudlala” (Opportunity to Play) Programme is designed to introduce children to play, sports, learning, and hygiene activities, providing them with well-rounded experiences that support their development. The programme emphasises key areas such as engaging children through sounds, stories, and rhymes to improve talking and imitation skills, stimulating curiosity and language development through interactive reading and questions, encouraging play and social interaction with peers through community engagement, and promoting confidence-building through age-appropriate independent and group play sessions. These activities aim to create opportunities for children to learn and grow in a fun and interactive environment that helps grow their overall development.
Creating Safe Spaces for Children to Thrive.
Creating safe spaces for children to thrive is important for their development and well-being. Play Days provide children with joyful and supervised environments where they can freely engage in play, building creativity, social connections, and emotional balance. These sessions are led by trained caregivers from Kids Clubs, helping children to express themselves, gain confidence, and simply enjoy being kids in a safe setting.
Joint Play Days are often used by ECD practitioners who invite caregivers and family members to come and play with their children at their child’s ECD centre.
The structure of Play Days involves trained caregivers setting up safe play areas with activities that allow children to explore and direct their play experiences. Adult supervision is maintained with minimal interference, allowing children the freedom to learn and play independently.
Play is valuable for improving children’s creativity, social skills, emotional well-being, and community ties. By bringing children, caregivers, and community members together, Play Days encourage a culture of care and connection in local communities, so that children have access to safe and enriching play experiences.
Making every school break a time of joy and enrichment.
During school holidays, Holiday Clubs offer structured, supervised play and learning activities for children, making it a safe and enjoyable experience. Trained youth leaders, caregivers, and volunteers lead these clubs, doing engaging games, creative tasks and life skills development with the children.
The focus areas of Holiday Clubs include assembling a dedicated team, involving the community, designing a structured programme, including child safety, and promoting play and exploration in a safe environment.
A typical day at a Holiday Club begins with morning activities like free play and puzzles, followed by group games, creative workshops, and meal breaks. Storytelling sessions and life skills workshops are also incorporated into the schedule, allowing children to engage in meaningful discussions and reflection.
Holiday Clubs play a significant role in providing a supervised space for children, promoting play and learning, developing essential life skills, and building community engagement through local volunteers and leaders.
The Child Participation Process is designed to create child-friendly environments where children and young voices have a say in decisions that affect them. Facilitators are taught the skills to engage children through an interactive, 8-week programme that values their input and encourages them to speak up.
This process focuses on the importance of child participation, creating safe spaces for children to express themselves and address relevant issues. Through various activities, research, and discussions, children explore their concerns, find solutions, and communicate with community leaders.
At the end of the programme, children and youth organise an event to advocate for child protection in their community. This process allows children to realise they are not alone, gain confidence in expressing themselves, and receive support from caring adults committed to their well-being.
The Reflective Practice Training highlights essential skills such as self-care, emotional resilience, and professional reflection to adults, NGO and CBO staff, and community practitioners working in high-stress environments. The training addresses challenges such as poverty, violence, and trauma, offering practical tools to help with well-being while improving the quality of care.
Participants engage in guided reflection, experiential activities, and creative exercises to manage stress, navigate workplace dynamics, and maintain compassionate care for others. The training promotes continuous learning and emotional well-being, making sure that caregivers and professionals are motivated, resilient, and effective.
Key objectives include strengthening self-awareness, developing debriefing techniques, relationship-building skills, and developing organisational learning and peer connections.
The training is structured into three workshops:
Workshop 1 focuses on self-care and awareness, including personal reflection tools and strategies for emotional well-being.
Workshop 2 looks into relationships and communication, covering professional dynamics, conflict resolution, and debriefing skills.
Workshop 3 centres on organisational learning and support, emphasising reflective environments, team discussions, and peer supervision structures.
Creating a nurturing foundation for a child’s future through love, care, and meaningful interactions.
The Ibhayi Lengane home visiting programme promotes early childhood development and maternal upliftment initiatives, prioritising relationships between mothers, families, and babies during the critical first 1,000 days of a child’s life.
Rather than replacing medical and nutritional guidance, the programme adopts an interactive, relationship-based approach encouraging love, play, and communication as essential elements in creating a nurturing environment for mother and child.
Key elements of the programme include home visits for family support, the Blanket Metaphor symbolising warmth and connection, community and family engagement to build a strong support system, and addressing emotional and psychosocial well-being through open conversations.
During pregnancy, dedicated home visits focus on emotional preparation, building a connection with the unborn child, and involving family members for a supportive home environment.
Structured home visits throughout the first 1,000 days cover emotional preparation, early attachment, safety, parenting guidance, and language development, aiming to encourage mothers through each developmental phase regardless of challenges.
Home visitors act as mentors and emotional supporters, encouraging responsive caregiving, identifying vulnerabilities, and promoting positive parenting techniques while strengthening relationships and connections within families. The programme’s impact includes healthier pregnancies, improved maternal well-being, stronger family bonds, and improved early childhood development.
Youth Process
The Me Power Workshop is a two-and-a-half-day empowerment programme aimed at in-school and out-of-school youth to develop self-awareness, self-confidence, and leadership skills, emphasising that empowerment begins within and extends to others and communities.
Structured around three core areas – ME-POWER for self-awareness, self-esteem, and recognising strengths; YOU-POWER for uplifting and empowering others; US-POWER for collective community impact, the workshop helps participants acknowledge their self-worth, self-awareness and leadership abilities, improve communication skills, and learn teamwork.
Key activities involve self-reflection exercises, leadership development, art, identifying personal potential and community support, creating vision boards, and implementing a buddy system for mutual encouragement.
The workshop finishes off with personal goal-setting for growth, supporting others, community initiatives, and community building for positive change.
Helping Youth Navigate Their Future.
Choosing a career path can feel daunting; however, with proper guidance and resources, young individuals can make decisions about their education, career trajectories, and future prospects. Our Career Guidance Programme helps youth in understanding their interests, exploring different career paths, and preparing for the workforce.
We work with youth to help them make informed career choices and take bold steps towards achieving their goals.
This programme caters to Grade 9 learners selecting subjects aligned with their career objectives, Grade 10-12 students looking into study options and career paths, and out-of-school youth seeking work, training opportunities, or further education.
Key components of the programme include self-assessment tools to identify suitable careers, guidance on subject choices for Grade 9 learners, insights into diverse career fields and study pathways, work readiness skills such as job search tips and interview preparation, and information on further education and training options.
Offering early career guidance empowers young people to make confident decisions, alleviate uncertainties about the future, align their education with their interests and industry demands, and increase their employability and access to opportunities.
Empowering Youth Through Possibilities.
The Solution Focused Approach (SFA) empowers youth through possibilities. It uses this method to uplift, inspire, and guide youth in taking charge of their own futures. This strength-based approach encourages young people to focus on their abilities, resources, and potential, rather than focusing on their challenges.
With this approach, we work alongside youths, showing them the possibilities and encouraging them to take small steps towards their goals, shifting the conversation from “what’s wrong?” to “what’s possible?”
Using the SFA method means initiating conversations based on a young person’s strengths, growing a future-focused mindset, celebrating small victories to build momentum for lasting change, and trusting youth to find their own solutions through meaningful dialogue.
We guide young people through questions that centre on envisioning a different outcome, reflecting on past positive experiences, and identifying small steps that can be taken toward their goals.
This approach is important as it highlights strengths to boost confidence, grows problem-solving skills through forward-looking thinking, promotes autonomy and independence, gives hope and motivation for positive change, and helps respectful and supportive relationships through conversation.
The SRHR Youth Programme is a safe and interactive platform for young people to engage in meaningful discussions about sexual and reproductive health, gender norms, power, consent, and healthy relationships. Structured sessions are designed to offer accurate information, challenge harmful myths, and promote informed decision-making regarding their bodies, relationships, and futures.
In the first session, “Road to the Clinic – Understanding Community Barriers,” youth participate in a café-style dialogue on topics such as access to HIV testing, ARV medication, contraception, and addressing stigma within their communities. The second session, “Gender Norms – Breaking Stereotypes,” involves interactive activities to explore society’s expectations of men and women, gender roles, and their impact on sexual health and relationships.
In the third session, “Consent – Understanding Boundaries,” participants analyse real-life scenarios to comprehend consent, coercion, and the importance of mutual agreement in relationships. The fourth session, “My Vision for Healthy Relationships,” is a self-reflective session where youth map their support systems, explore family planning options, and set personal goals for healthy relationships.
This programme reduces stigma and misinformation around SRHR topics, helps youth to make informed decisions, strengthens their communication skills and confidence in discussing sensitive topics, and grows healthy relationships and gender equality. Ultimately, this programme wants to create a secure and supportive space for young people to explore their rights, responsibilities, and aspirations, leading to a healthier and more empowered generation.
Empowering Girls with Knowledge, Confidence & Resources.
Menstruation should never get in the way of a girl’s education, confidence, or well-being. Dlalanathi’s Menstrual Health Workshops give young girls the knowledge, resources, and support necessary to manage their menstrual health with dignity.
The workshops focus on several key areas:
- Breaking the Silence: Creating safe spaces for girls to openly discuss menstruation without shame or stigma.
- Menstrual Health Education: Providing accurate, age-appropriate information about puberty, menstrual cycles, and reproductive health.
- Practical Support: Distributing reusable sanitary products, such as pads and menstrual cups, to ensure sustainable menstrual hygiene solutions.
- Myth Busting: Addressing common misconceptions about menstruation and reproductive health.
- Confidence Building: Encouraging girls to embrace menstruation as a natural and healthy process.
The impact of these workshops included reaching 401 girls, increasing confidence and understanding of reproductive health, and improving school attendance by addressing period poverty. Testimonials from participants reflect a newfound sense of empowerment and positivity about their menstrual health.
By providing education, resources, and open discussions, these workshops mean that young girls can navigate menstruation with confidence, remain in school, and take charge of their reproductive health.
Empowering Youth Through Knowledge & Leadership.
The MTV Shuga Peer Education Programme, facilitated by Dlalanathi, is an initiative focused on helping young people with knowledge on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) while growing leadership skills.
This programme is an extension of the Youth in Action process, identifying youth leaders committed to making a positive impact in their lives and communities. Peer Educators selected for the programme undergo intensive training to facilitate discussions on SRHR, HIV prevention, gender-based violence, and healthy relationships. These trained Peer Educators then conduct peer education groups using MTV Shuga Down South 3 materials in schools, communities, and health facilities. They also engage in online dialogues through social media to reach a wider audience with accurate SRHR information.
Continuous mentoring, technical support, and emotional debriefing are provided to make sure the quality of facilitation and the well-being of Peer Educators. The programme has trained and supported 20 Peer Educators, reached 984 youth in 2024 through face-to-face sessions, engaged in structured online dialogues, and provided safe spaces for open discussions on SRHR topics. It is important in reducing unplanned pregnancies, HIV infections, and misinformation, while empowering young individuals to prioritise their health and futures through informed and confident decision-making, both in-person and online.
This programme aims to establish a safe and supportive environment for young individuals to explore emotions, build resilience, and develop coping strategies through creative and interactive activities. Following a trauma-informed approach, the sessions are conducted weekly for 6 weeks, assisting participants in processing their experiences and promoting connection, self-awareness, and healing.
The key features of the programme include creating a safe and supportive atmosphere by implementing comfort rules and group rituals to encourage trust and belonging. Participants engage in creative expression activities like body mapping, storytelling, and group art projects to help them process emotions. Emphasis is also placed on emotional awareness and regulation through guided breathing exercises, movement-based activities, and mindfulness techniques to improve self-regulation skills.
The programme also focuses on resilience and coping strategies, providing tools for managing stress, anxiety, and trauma through interactive discussions and games. It utilises an affirmation and strengths-based approach, encouraging participants to acknowledge their strengths, boost self-confidence, and engage in personal reflections and peer affirmations.
The significance of this programme lies in helping young people with the skills to handle challenging emotions positively, building peer connections, a sense of community, encouraging self-expression, and supporting personal growth in a non-judgmental environment. It also helps youth with lifelong skills for emotional resilience, making it valuable for youth facilitators, community workers, and educators aiming to assist young people overcome trauma and promote overall well-being.
Strategic Partnerships
Healing begins with acknowledgment: understanding & coping with trauma.
The Trauma Acknowledgement Workshop, led by Dlalanathi, is the initial phase of a structured training programme aimed at helping people recognise, understand, and begin the process of healing from trauma. Through this interactive workshop, participants are provided with a safe space to explore the impact of trauma on their minds, bodies, and emotions, while also acquiring practical coping strategies for building resilience. Healing begins with acknowledgment: understanding & coping with trauma.
The workshop focuses on key areas such as understanding different types of trauma, including single-incident, complex, developmental, and collective trauma. Participants also learn to differentiate between everyday stress and traumatic experiences, engage in body mapping activities to visually express how trauma is stored in their bodies, and explore practical coping strategies such as breathing exercises, movement activities, and emotional regulation tools. Another important aspect is the encouragement of self-awareness and reflection, allowing individuals to acknowledge their personal experiences of trauma without judgement or shame.
The significance of this workshop lies in its ability to assist participants in identifying and acknowledging their experiences with trauma, providing them with practical tools for emotional regulation and self-care, open conversations about mental health and well-being, and laying the groundwork for the next phase of training, Creating Calm Classrooms.
Creating Calm Classrooms – Supporting Educators in Trauma-Informed Teaching.
The Creating Calm Classrooms training supports educators in implementing trauma-informed teaching practices to create a peaceful and regulated learning environment for students who have faced trauma. This training, which follows the Trauma Acknowledgement Workshop, focuses on helping teachers comprehend how trauma impacts students, develop emotional resilience, and apply calming methods within the classroom setting.
The training emphasises understanding the effects of trauma on learning, behaviour, and emotional regulation in children, distinguishing between stress and trauma responses, and establishing calming techniques to bring about a sense of safety. Educators are also guided on self-regulation practices to manage their stress and emotional well-being, allowing them to provide a composed and supportive presence for students. Practical strategies like tone of voice, body language, and positive classroom management are explored to mitigate stress and conflicts in the classroom.
The importance of this training lies in empowering teachers to assist learners who have faced trauma, reducing disruptive behaviors by establishing a calm and structured environment, encouraging self-care among educators to prevent burnout, and strengthening teacher-student relationships through trauma-informed approaches.
A Self-Help Group Approach (SHGA)
A proven model for sustainable change, transforming lives one group at a time.
The Self-Help Group Approach (SHGA), facilitated by Dlalanathi and supported by Kindernothife, is a community-driven model designed to help marginalised women in overcoming poverty and social exclusion. This programme promotes empowerment, participation, and collective action, recognising the community’s capacity to address its own challenges. SHGA establishes safe spaces where members can gain confidence, achieve financial stability, and advocate for their rights, with the ultimate goal of reaching Federation.
At the core of the SHG Approach are key features such as economic empowerment, social support and solidarity, advocacy and leadership, and sustainability and independence. Members participate by saving money, lending to each other for income-generating activities, building trust, supporting one another, and driving policy changes to improve community services.
By forming Self Help Groups, growing into Cluster Level Associations and Federations, SHGA allows communities to address larger challenges collectively. This model ultimately matters as it lifts families out of poverty, strengthens social bonds, and creates long-term impact by empowering those most affected by poverty. The programme is a proven model for sustainable change, transforming lives one group at a time.
The Child Rights Approach recognises that all children have rights, with the power to shape their futures. Based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), this approach shifts from seeing children as passive recipients of help, but to active participants in decisions that affect their lives.
Key principles include acknowledging children as rights-holders, emphasising the accountability of duty-bearers, promoting children’s participation and empowerment, ensuring non-discrimination, and supporting the holistic development of children.
In practice, this approach involves developing child-centred programmes, influencing policies through advocacy efforts, engaging with communities to strengthen support systems for children, and promoting awareness of children’s rights.
The Child Rights Approach is important as it helps break cycles of poverty, discrimination, and abuse, allows children to have a voice in decisions that affect them, and contributes to building resilient communities that prioritise the well-being of children.
Empowering SHG members to create lasting change.
The SHG training programme is structured to provide SHG members with essential skills in financial management, group governance, leadership, and social empowerment. It consists of nine modules that support member organisations in building strong, self-sustaining groups promoting economic and social well-being.
In the introductory module, members understand the SHG concept and its role in community empowerment, establish group rules, and develop leadership structures while building trust and mutual support among members.
The programme highlights the importance of regular saving and financial discipline, managing loans and repayments within the group, and maintaining accurate financial records for transparent and sustainable fund management growth.
Other modules focus on strengthening relationships and networks within the group, encouraging support among members, addressing social issues, introducing income-generating activities, developing leadership and communication skills, conflict resolution and problem-solving, goal-setting, and preparing SHGs for long-term independence by forming Cluster Level Associations (CLAs) to scale impact and link with external partners for support and advocacy.
Bridging the gap between grassroots initiatives and institutional change.
The Cluster Level Association (CLA) Approach plays an important role in connecting grassroots efforts with institutional transformation within the Self-Help Group (SHG) model. By uniting multiple SHGs, CLAs address broader social, economic, and ‘political’ issues that extend beyond individual SHGs’ reach, meaning collective action, resource mobilisation, and leadership advancement for lasting community development.
CLAs are established when 8-10 SHGs with 16-20 members each converge in a specific area. Representatives elected from each SHG make sure that the decision-making is inclusive within the CLA, which then fortifies SHGs, mobilises resources, facilitates service provision, and advocates for policy changes to enact positive community impact and sustainability.
Through roles such as strengthening SHGs, facilitating community development, advocating socially, engaging in governance, and promoting sustainability and growth, CLAs make the voices of SHG members for systemic change heard, and this builds resilient communities, and provides a structured pathway for sustainable development from self-reliance to broader societal impact.
Families4Children
Investing in early childhood means investing in a brighter future.
The Families4Children Project, a collaboration between Dlalanathi, Singakwenza, and Thandanani Children’s Foundation, assists parents and caregivers in providing responsive care and early learning opportunities for children from conception to age 5. Through this initiative, we work to support families by improving their understanding of their child’s needs, emotions, and development through attentive and loving caregiving. We also give caregivers the tools they need for learning and development through everyday interactions and play, as well as provide training to Community Health Workers, partner NGOs, and parent champions to offer assistance to families within the community.
The project engages in advocacy and research at various levels to create supportive environments for parents and establish a replicable model in other communities. Key programmes include the Play Mat initiative, promoting learning through play, and the Ibhayi Lengane support programme for pregnant mothers and caregivers to focus on emotional well-being, responsive parenting, and family bonding.
The impact of these efforts is evident in the strengthening of parent-child relationships, the support of healthy early childhood development, and the plan to expand into two additional provinces by 2025 to reach more families and provide children with the best start in life from birth onwards.
