What started as a way to help children stay busy on weekends during the lockdown has blossomed into an organisation that changes lives through extramural activities.
Lorentzville, South Africa (17 March 2022) – Extramural activities were a highlight growing up, whether you played an instrument, joined the scouts or brownies, took up art, karate kicked your way through the belt system or did dancing. Not every child in South Africa has this opportunity so when 120 inner-city children got the chance, they jumped at every opportunity.
Safe Study was founded during the pandemic when soup kitchen volunteer Georgina Bennett noticed how many children were on the streets due to schools being closed. Without access to online learning, the children were quickly falling behind.
Georgina started helping some of them with English, Maths and Reading. They had a thirst for learning and soon more children were asking for help. Georgina went from helping two children to eighty!
It became impossible to help eighty children with schooling but thankfully the Victoria Yards venue, unable to operate due to lockdown regulations, opened its doors to the cause and Georgina was able to accommodate all the children.
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Safe Study was able to grow from there and start offering extramural activities. The children loved taking part in skill-building activities that they had never experienced before. The activities currently take place on Saturdays and Sundays but as they grow, they hope to include weekdays too. Some of the activities included:
- Academic and homework support
- Art
- Pottery
- Piano, guitar, trumpet
- Dance
- Drama
- Yoga and meditation (emotional well being is crucial for these children)
- Knitting and beadwork
- Chess
- Roller skating and skateboarding
- Workshops on Health and Nutrition and Recycling.
The Safe Study team also introduced physical activities on Sundays which include boxing, strength training and they have started a running club.
The entire organisation was founded on zero budget but through the support of various donors and CSI funding, they are now able to pay rent to Victoria Yards.
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“We are now a registered NPO, and we encourage and motivate over 120 children every week. At the end of last year, we had our prayers answered with a CSI donation from which has allowed us to finally rent our amazing classroom space in Lorentzville Johannesburg. We are so excited to be growing and have a safe, clean and secure place to call home. We are now able to start small programs during the week as well as our bigger Saturday and Sunday gathering!
With just a little more funding we hope to be able to support our volunteers with a “stipend” and expand on what we can offer the children. Our amazing team of “real silent heroes” all come from the community. Most lost their jobs during covid and the volunteer work gave them new purpose, motivation and huge reward sharing their skills with the children. It is a truly wonderful team.
They leave each week with a full heart and a wonderful food parcel donated by the incredible Tzu Chi foundation! We also manage to help a large portion of the community kitchens with rice also donated by Tzu Chi.” – Nicola Valentine
As the organisation grows, they hope to add many more activities to the list and to grow into other communities. Through the support of other organisations and donors, they can make this happen. They also welcome volunteers looking to give back in time and skill.
If you would like to know more about this organisation, you can find them on Instagram here or via the website here.