Our Holiday and Life Skills project offers disadvantaged children in the rural communities of Dipaleseng, Mpumulanga, a break from their everyday lives, to participate in fun and memorable experiences. The beneficiaries of our Orphaned and Vulnerable Children programme are invited to spend some of their school holidays participating in activities that they would otherwise not have the opportunity to experience. We aim to engage in creative activities so that children’s creative abilities may be awakened.

The aim of this effort is to impact the lives of orphans and vulnerable children by teaching them life skills. This is something that the current generation is missing from adults, due to death of parents and thus mended large families wherein the guardians might not have the time to spend with the children they care for, as they are trying to make a living for the family. Through these new experiences and by teaching life skills, we aim to close this gap for the future generation.

Each Holiday and Life Skills experience hopes to encourage children to become more aware of their creative potential and to harness it. Children are encouraged to discover their talents and work on them, potentially growing their talents in order to make a living and contribute to the communities (humanity) in their future.

In the recent Easter holidays, children were invited to spend the morning at the Topsy Sanctuary, Grootvlei, to join in a Drumming Circle, learning how to play the drums and a variety of other percussion instruments. The children and young people were also given a short lesson about the different types of drums being played buy the musicians leading the circle and the different sounds they could create. This wonderful, heart-warming experience was kindly sponsored by The Drum Café in Johannesburg, www.drumcafe.com .

The children were shy and unsure to begin with. The musicians from Drum Café began performing and told the children to join in and beat the small drum found at their feet. The lead drummer urged the children to make music with the drums, however they want to, there was no right or wrong way – just have fun. As music filled the room, the children began to warm up and really started to enjoy themselves. Smiles spread across the room as their little hands began to find the beat and soon everyone was drumming to the same beat. They were naturals! There was so much rhythm and energy in the room. Even though the children were extremely excited, they were very co-operative and listened to every word the teacher said - a proud moment for the Orphaned and Vulnerable Children Programme staff that have grown close to the children.

Before this experience most learners had not been exposed to such an exhilarating experience and their lives were built upon a normal routine. Nyengi, a qualified school teacher who runs our Afterschool Centre, participated in the Drumming Circle and said the following: “The whole exercise made me feel jubilant, thrilled and revived so I was excited that the same happened to the learners.”

If you would like to help us fund another Life Skills Experience, please give through our Global Giving page.