Life Skills programme

 

We talk regularly about the importance of Life Skills for the orphaned and vulnerable children on the Back to School programme. E3 believes that with the right input about how to behave and what to focus on in life, it becomes a way of life, which then enables the child to cope with the demands and challenges that they will face in the future. We want to equip children to make wise choices, cope with past experiences and pursue their goals and dreams, with God at the centre of their lives

  • Sharing the Bible in the light of challenges and issues they face and God’s love for them

  • Workshops on career choices

  • Inspirational talks by motivational speakers (for example, a young person from their own community who has escaped the cycle of poverty and is studying at university)

  • Sports days to build confidence, have fun and learn skills to stay fit and healthy

  • Sanitary pad distribution through Girls’ Clubs, which create a space to openly discuss challenges that teenage girls and their friends may be facing, such as abuse, teenage pregnancy and peer pressure.

Children on the Back to School programme attend bi-monthly Life Skills workshops. More than 600 girls in KwaZulu-Natal and 60 refugee girls in Pietermaritzburg and Durban in South Africa attend the Girls’ Clubs and receive sanitary pads each month so they can attend school in comfort and with confidence all through the month.

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The teachers in the schools say Life Skills workshops are helping children to be more confident and to cope with past experiences and current challenges, like the death of their parents, living in poverty and being refugees in a strange country. For some who struggled with their behaviour at school, Life Skills has improved their ability to concentrate and behave well in class. We see such a change in the children over time and it’s amazing to see these wonderful children conquering the challenges they face and finding hope for the future.