Building Blocks for Life Skills
We are thrilled to announce the celebration of our annual flagship month in July, commonly known as Mandela Month. This year’s theme focuses on life skills, addressing the significant challenges in early childhood development in South Africa.
“A study on child maltreatment, commissioned by the UBS Optimus Foundation – a grant-making foundation, revealed startling results. The report, which provided a national overview of the prevalence of child abuse, violence, and neglect in South Africa, found that 42% of children experienced some level of violence during their childhood. Further, the report indicated that in 2015 alone, roughly 355 000 cases of sexual abuse were perpetrated against children between the ages of 15 and 17.” https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2024-05-24-thirty-years-of-freedom-protecting-south-africas-children
Starting Chance aims to raise awareness among principals, practitioners, and parents about the importance of developing healthy life skills in the early childhood sector, including the well-being and rights of the child, the importance of communication, and the creation of opportunities to spend quality time with young children at home and at school.
Mandela Month Activities
This year our Mandela Month activities will combine with our 10 year anniversary celebrations over 3 months, presenting opportunities for Starting Chance to change parents’, practitioners’ and children’s attitudes towards life skills through various engaging activities. We have planned several events:
Practitioners Workshop – 26 July
Aimed at equipping principals and practitioners with the knowledge and tools to enhance life skills education in their centres.
Parent Workshop – 12 July
Focused on educating parents about the importance of life skills and how they can support their children’s learning at home.
Building Blocks for Life Skills – 10 August
A grand event to celebrate life skills, featuring interactive activities and games designed to make life skills development fun and engaging for children.
On-going Interventions
Going forward, our approach will be practical, comprising:
providing Life Skills Kits and training practitioners on their effective use;
in our regular site visits, ensuring understanding and proper implementation of life skills activities.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Following Mandela’s example, please consider using the 67 principle to:
Donate R67, R670, R6700
Contributions will help provide 200 life skills kits to 46 schools, benefiting over 2000 children
Volunteer 67 minutes, 670 minutes
Assist with organizing and conducting workshops and events
Spread the Word – 67 min on a SM platform, 670 min on a fundraiser
Raise awareness about the importance of life skills and our initiatives.