Spreading Awareness over the Heritage Weekend

Participation from parents is so critical for preparing children for a successful school career. For children with severe disabilities where attending a mainstream school is not an option, it’s even more important that parents are equipped with the tools and information that they need to successfully support and stimulate their child in the home.

With this as a backdrop the Siyasizas of our NCB and ECD teams set out over the Heritage weekend (a time of year when we celebrate the stories that make us unique as well as the diversity supported in SA), to create parent awareness within the community as well as a support parents with an interactive workshop.

Despite unfavourable weather conditions and long weekend commitments, 7 parents attended the workshop.

A traditional meal of pap, spinach and wors was served, and parents were encouraged to make any item they chose such as animals or everyday items, from the river clay that was supplied – a simple and cost-effective resource. This is a great tool for parents to do with their children as it encourages the child to recall from memory, associate sounds and words with what they make and of course the fine motor development that happens when they mould the clay. Parents were able to share their stories about their heritage as well as their experiences from working with Siyakwazi.

The team received some positive feedback from one of the parents that is part of the NCB programme. “since Siyakwazi started to support my child, Lwando, he can move with his stomach, fetch water, pronounce all family names and he can eat by himself. Thank you Siyakwazi.”

In addition to the parent support workshop, the team also went into the community to create some awareness about Siyakwazi and the programmes it offers. The more people we reach the more opportunities will be created for every child to learn.