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Thembalethu Life Skills Centre
The Thembalethu Life Skills Centre was set up in 1994. Its objective is to guide and assist homeless girls re-integrate into society. Thembalethu targets young girls between the ages of 10-18 who have become separated from their families and live on the streets of Johannesburg, often turning to drug peddling or prostitution in order to survive. Many of these girls become objects of abuse, being 'used' by local gangs and back-street boys and are often unable to protect themselves.
The meaning of "Thembalethu" is "Our Hope". By providing a safe daytime care facility, the project aims to restore the confidence and self-respect that has been lost, and offers the girls a way out of a lifestyle from which it is otherwise virtually impossible to escape.
Our outreach workers approach the girls and endeavour to build up trust-relationships. They are offered guidance and support, and are encouraged to attend the centre where they are afforded the opportunity of life skills training, are able to wash themselves and their clothing, have a meal and be directed towards a suitable shelter rather than sleeping on the streets.
Thembalethu offers a comprehensive programme including life skills and vocational training thus
empowering the girls to take charge of their own lives and create a better future for themselves.
The life skills programme is rooted in the experience of working with the girls. It is structured within
seven goals, which are summarised as follows:
- To create contact and establish a relationship of trust between the Social Worker and each individual girl. Thereafter, to encourage family contact and (where practical) to re-unite her with her family.
- To address the basic welfare and physical needs of the girl.
- To promote health care and to encourage participation in informal discussions on personal hygiene, substance abuse, sexually transmitted diseases and other relevant subjects.
- To develop inter-personal and social skills.
- To develop practical skills for legitimate, independent living.
- To provide programmes for up-grading educational and vocational skills.
- To involve girls in the day-to-day operation of the project. To promote self-reliance and responsibility and to expose them to practical situations that will encourage them to function independently.
The success of the programme is measured by the fact that the majority of young women grasp the option that is offered by Thembalethu, and do manage to break out of their vicious lifestyles, whilst approximately 30% of the girls reunite with their families.
A vital part of the Thembalethu programme is to create opportunities where each girl is able to develop her potential. It is essential that individual talents, desires and emotional maturity be considered.
Most of these girls have not grown up within stable environments and it often takes time for them to develop the commitment, emotional capability and perseverance required in learning new skills. A flexible time frame is therefore essential.
Where possible, girls are assisted and enrolled at schools to complete their primary or secondary education and we provide uniforms, stationery, support and guidance.
However, most of the girls have experienced only limited education and some are essentially illiterate and can only communicate in their home languages. Training therefore focuses on basic and practical skills. Frequently the girls have to be helped to develop emotional stability before they will be ready to tackle the demanding disciplines of a job. Once the desire and the will to achieve become apparent, it is possible to introduce formal instruction.
Every effort is made to accommodate the aspirations of the trainee. She is encouraged to express her own opinions, choose what she wants to do and to set her own goals so that she can move away from the influences of her earlier existence.
A volunteer gives sewing and cooking instruction and JCWS has appointed an experienced teacher who is developing the entrepreneurial potential of selected students. Several girls also attend other training courses sponsored by Thembalethu, these include hairdressing, beauty therapy, dressmaking and home nursing.
General life skills instruction and counselling occurs on an ongoing basis. It includes a strong emphasis on HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases as the girls have a high risk of contracting and spreading the disorders. A volunteer gives basic sewing and cooking instruction whilst JCWS has appointed an experienced teacher who is
developing the entrepreneurial potential of selected students.
Thembalethu is presently in a transitional phase. Due to the increase in circumstantial neglect, extreme poverty and homelessness, it makes sense to focus more on the economic empowerment of our girls.
In total, Thembalethu assisted 73 girls in 2002/2003. Fifteen of our girls attended formal schools. One of our girls attended a catering course and another a dressmaking course. Eight of the girls that we have served have been reunited with the families.
Thembalethu will relocate to the renovated Drill Hall in Twist Street during March 2004. Our existing services of rehabilitation, life skills, counselling, schooling and training will be combined with economic empowerment, including "hands-on" training in a hairdressing salon, a catering facility, a sewing room plus computer training.
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