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Parents are THE KEY to the socialisation and development of children. Merely providing developmental services to children and youth would be skewed if a supportive programme for the development of parents is not available.
PASCaP therefore launched a pilot programme for parents in 2001. The pilot was initiated in Parkwood, the site of the first PASCaP after school pilot project in 1992.
Aims of the Parent Empowerment Programme
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To improve the
capacity of parents in their relationships with their children based on a better
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Broaden awareness on children's rights, and child abuse detection and prevention. |
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An enabling, participatory and supportive group environment for parents. |
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Parents were able to develop support networks with one another |
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Parents have pledged to keep their and other children safe. Many are now active in community structures detecting and reporting child abuse violations with their community |
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Parents developed an improved understanding of the different developmental stages of their children and received collective guidance on how specific issues could be managed. Many parents have reported that they now understand their children better than before. |
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Parents were guided in the
positive management and resolution of conflict and effective
ways of dealing with stress
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Sound financial budgeting and the promotion of family health through healthy nutrition enabled many parents to improve the position of their families. |
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The first round of parents have continued to meet and formed a support group drawing in many other community members, including elusive fathers. |
| The parent empowerment programme has now been expanded to Khayelitsha and will also be focusing on income-generation activities owing to the high rate of unemployment. |
Children's Art for Children's Rights Programme
Art
is a window to the soul, and with children a window to their past, present
and future. The development of art skills does not only facilitate
self-expression, but also builds confidence, self-esteem and leads to
opportunities for economic enterprise and creativity.
The
communities in which the
Art Programme
is
offered are currently mainly in the townships of Cape Town: Mitchell’s Plain, Heideveld, Parkwood, Belhar, Gugulethu, New Crossroads and Khayelitsha.
Projects in rural areas have also recently joined the programme. They are in
All the art produced are by children and youth from high profile poverty communities. The ages of the children are from 5 to 18 years.
In order to expose the work of the children, a number of programmes have been initiated:
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Annual showcases which include stage performances. Parents, community members, donors and community organisations are invited. |
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Market days at which art and craft is sold. Profits are ploughed back into the programme, with a portion going to the children whose work were sold as an incentive to continue their efforts. |
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Exhibitions and sales are also held at the Cape Town North Sea Jazz Festival and in future at the Cape Town Festival. |
The Arts Programme is not only developing artists, but using art as a means of enabling young entrepreneurs - to provide children and youth with the invaluable experience of exploring their talent and using their talent in a positive manner to improve their lives and those of their communities. The strategic goals for the programme in 2002 are:
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To facilitate a Children's Art Industry |
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To use art as a positive and creative outlet for self expression |
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To facilitate awareness of children's rights and related issues |
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To promote art as a form of skills development for social and economic empowerment for children and youth. |
Given the high rates of poverty and crime involving youth, a development programme has been initiated in the high incidence areas of Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha with the following objectives:
| to provide a motivational programme for youth focusing on the achievement of their socio-economic rights as South Africans |
| to facilitate skills development in music, drama, arts and craft, and basic business skills as a means of enhancing entrepreneurship |
| to empower youth to make informed life and positive life decisions |
| to empower and develop knowledge on relevant contemporary issues such as HIV/AIDS and relationships, gender, etc. |
High schools in the selected areas are invited to refer identified young persons to the programme. The long term objective is to facilitate the establishment of an organisation which is able to link with other youth centres and services to lobby for and provide support and development for youth by youth.
To read about specific youth development programmes, please click here.
The development of regional after school forums are critical to provide ongoing training and support for projects to increase their collective levels of sustainability. Networks are already in place in Whittlesea, Atlantis and Cape Town, and in the process of establishment in George, Beaufort West and Prince Albert.
Active Learning Resource Libraries
The communities in which after school projects are facilitated are those where resources are scarce or non-existent. In order to ensure that after school projects provide quality programming, resource pools to enhance the holistic social and educational development of children and youth are often required. PASCaP has therefore embarked upon a programme of developing Active Learning Resource Libraries with local after school project forums to meet this need. The programme includes the building of local capacity in the management of the resource.
In order to comply with State requirements as non-profit organisations, newly established after school projects are required to implement effective financial management systems. This is often a significant challenge as many project workers have not yet been through the process of auditing. PASCaP therefore has a programme to assist projects in aligning their operations so that they are prepared for auditing and are able to submit their audited financial statements to the Department of Social Development that provides a subsidy for their continued work.
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