Help Children Deal with Trauma in SA Township

A BIG THANK YOU TO GLOBAL GIVING AND ALL OUR DONORS.

From August to December 2018 we were able to offer in depth therapeutic counselling to 32 children. The organisation Valley Development Projects has linked with three schools in the communty of Ocean View.

Three days of the week the counsellor visits the schools to meet with children referred by the teachers,  interviews are followed up at our new building. This intervention has allowed us to reach many more children and we look forward to expanding this model into Masiphumelele.

Masiphumelele is another community with limited resources in which we work.

Three of the staff attended a Play therapy workshop in November and developed their skills. 

The children in our communities are vulnerable and exposed daily to situations of abuse, domestic violence and gang shootings. Many of the children have no- one to talk to and the children really use the oppourtunity to have a voice and share their distress and anxiety. Some of the stories are tragic and we are fortunate that our team includes social workers who can follow up with interventions where necessary.

Over the past few months our counsellor Juliana has been working with  children referred by  three schools in the community. Twenty- two children have received individual counselling. The children are interviewed first at the school and where necessary further sessions are arranged at our organisation.

With the assistance of funds received we have managed to renovate an existing building that will be used  for the counselling of traumatised children and group sessions withe our adolescents. There have been a number of donations towards toys and furniture for the building however Juliiana still lacks dedicated play therapy equipment.

The children referred for counselling are children who have been neglected, abused or exposed to abuse and domestic violence at home, the children are also vulnerable to the social environment of poverty, unemployment , substance abuse and as a result family breakdown.

As well as counselling children, our objective is to be the voice of the child, therefore all our interventions with the children include mediations with family and family strengthening.

Your support contributes to making the above possible and the staff from Valley Development Projects say   thank -you and appreciate all donations.

Ocean View has been the scene of nine shootings in the past month which are affecting the community at all levels, especially the children. We are attempting to meet the needs of the children who are impacted by providing counselling in a safe environment. 

Juliana, our social auxiliary worker, is dedicating some of her time to working with these vulnerable children. Through in-depth counselling sessions, she helps to stabilise the emotional wellbeing of the children.

Because of the random shootings, parents are frightened to have their children play in the streets. By providing the children with a secure environment, VDP ensures that the impacts of the violences are managed. 

The gang shootings appear to result from the abuse of drugs that's prevalent across the cities. VDP works with the community at all levels to ensure that they have access to proper services to address the consequences of the violence. 

We hope to train two of our staff members to provide the in-depth counselling that is required for these children to be able to live normal lives. Your donation makes it possible to train social workers like Juliana to better meet the needs of the community. 

We're also thrilled to announce that every donation we receive on Mandela Day (18th of July) via GlobalGiving will be matched up to 50%! Please help us reach out to even more children affected by violences occuring in Ocean View and Masiphumelele. 

Valley Development Projects  is working together with the Hannah Cornelius foundation ( HCF)
to open a centre targeting youth at risk.

Included in this building which is currently being renovated will be
offices designated for child counselling. Child counselling has  been
identified as a major gap by the various organisations within the
community. currently we are seeking  and interviewing suitable
candidates to fill these posts and hopefully will fill the post with a
qualified person who speak the languages of the children needing the
services,by the end of March 2018.

The counselling  needed is sensitive as it is required for many
children who are victims of sexual abuse, domestic violence and
trauma. As we raised a limited funding, we will identify a person who
can work part time for three months and then will attempt to raise
funds to maintain that position.