THARI
Adopt-a-School implements the Foundation’s Thari programme. Thari is a pilot programme that addresses the impact of social issues such as violence and abuse on learners and their learning outcomes. The programme provides psychosocial support for vulnerable women and children
and facilitates multisectoral networks of local organisations and services to address social challenges. It is being piloted in Botshabelo in the Free State and Diepsloot in Gauteng.
MULTISECTORAL APPROACH
Thari’s Development Pillars
psychosocial support services for VULNERABLE women and children
Safe and therapeutic parks for vulnerable children
Impact Figures
Children registered with Thari since January 2019
Support services initiated through the psychosocial
services at the Safe Park
Psychosocial Support Services
Thari’s psychosocial support services through the Botshabelo Safe Park, have reached over 700 vulnerable children. These children required protection from a multitude of social ills such as sexual abuse, clinical depression and attempted suicides, child offender cases, drug trafficking, drug abuse and gang-related violence. Thari’s psychosocial support services work with the children and their families to deal with these challenges.
Safe park activities
Life skills is a key part of what makes up the activities at the Safe Park. Chess is one of the activities that has become a critical part of personal development, self-healing and education at the Safe Park.
Diepsloot Career Expo
The Thari programme facilitates an annual Career Expo in Diepsloot to expose learners to post-school employment and tertiary study options. The Expo was motivated by the local multisectoral forum to address the large numbers of young people in the locality not in education, employment or training. Thari’s 3rd annual Career Expo hosted almost 500 learners from various schools in Diepsloot.
Child Protection Week Sports Tournament
The Thari programme and its partners commemorated Child Protection Week through a sports programme
Bridging the Gap, Thari’s Biennial Conference
In September 2019, Thari hosted its Inaugural Biennial Conference, themed Bridging the Gap. The conference was very well attended by fellow practitioners working in the field of child abuse and neglect, including educational sector, NGO and Government representatives. It served to consolidate the programme experience and established a firm collaborative platform going forward. Attendees expressed a strong need to work together in addressing social challenges affecting learners in schools and demonstrated the need for a multisectoral approach in protecting women and children against violence in school communities.
Key Outcomes
Stakeholder collaboration is fundamental in effectively addressing violence against children
After-school care programmes play a pivotal role in child safety
There is a need to focus on engagement and protection of the boy child
Tshepang Khake
Tshepang is a Thari Child and Youth Care Worker who dropped out of his course in Electrical Engineering at the University of Technology in the Free State due to a lack of funding. Thari, in partnership with the Cyril Ramaphosa Education Trust (CRET), assisted Tshepang to access NSFAS funding for 2020. CRET has provided a stipend to fund his transport and food.
