Building lasting resilience

in rural South African communities

Building lasting resilience in rural South African
communities calls for a distinctly African approach – one that prioritises collaboration, peer support, and deep community engagement.

Resilient children grow from
 strong households and
thriving neighbourhoods .

Our Approach

Thanda doesn’t just work with individuals – our interventions operate across three levels.

Sustainable change occurs when interventions positively impact the social fabric that affects everyone.

Find out more on the Individual, Households and Neighbourhoods by selecting the tabs below:
In rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Thanda is building resilient Individuals through three core initiatives.

Early Childhood Development

Birth → 4 years old

Children, including those with disabilities, build a strong foundation for their future through dedicated teacher support and high quality learning opportunities, starting at birth!

Child & Youth Development

5 → 17 years old

Children thrive as they grow up through facilitated, FUN, interactive learning and life skills programmes that grow children’s holistic skills in areas such as empathy, critical thinking, literacy, and problem-solving.

Food Security & Economic Development

Youth → Elderly

Households sustainably improve nutrition, strengthen self-reliance, and build a local economy through Organic Farming Interventions in the local community.

Households are building resilience through growing knowledge and skills that strengthen their abilities to raise children who can thrive.

Home visits & household gardens

Households of children in our Early Childhood Development and Child & Youth Development programmes receive regular Home Visits from Thanda, empowering families to establish Home Learning Environments and support healthy development. Households can also set up Gardens to achieve sustainable food security through training and mentorship from Thanda.

Neighbourhoods are building resilience by fostering a deepened sense of ubuntu through shared skills development that enables greater perspective and empathy, and stronger social cohesion.

Neighbourhood learning circles

Neighbourhoods participate in regular learning circles, bringing entire communities together to engage in specially selected activities. These workshops address child development and other relevant topics whilst strengthening bonds between neighbours, fostering greater social cohesion, and enabling problem-solving within each neighbourhood.

“

Joining the group (neighbourhood learning circles) has boosted my knowledge of how to take care of my grandchildren and we have all started to build a bond. We are in a space where we can share thoughts and ideas and it has made it better for all of us.

“

Gogo Duduzile and her grandson at their home, playing together with the stove she made at the local Baby Playgroup.

IMPACT OVER TIME

1 125 children gained access to Early Learning opportunities over the last 9 years

69 589 books borrowed from our library in 12 years
1.3 million meals served to children over 16 years
R31 million worth of vegetables grown in local community over the last 8 years

We believe homegrown is best....

Thanda was established in 2008 to provide critically needed support for children through After-School Programmes. Over the years, Thanda has evolved to offer hyper-local, holistic solutions that support all children and families living throughout the Umzumbe Municipality in the Ugu District of rural KwaZulu-Natal.
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