A safe space for children
The institute provides art therapy and skills to children in need of healing.
A local community art counselling and training organisation provides safe spaces for children from Johannesburg’s inner city.
Lefika La Phodiso, which means the rock of holding and healing is located in Parktown. The organisation uses creative arts therapeutically to facilitate the recovery from trauma and is an emotionally safe space for children’s healing, which also empowers them to better navigate day-to-day challenges.
Kate Shand of fundraising and special projects at the organisation shared that much of the work at Lefika is made possible by volunteers and the organisation encourages people to participate by providing their training skills at no cost.
She added that community art counsellors, art and drama therapy master’s students, and South African College of Applied Psychology student registered counsellors facilitate a variety of afterschool programmes. The programmes include several groups which are ‘open studio’, drama therapy, drama, art therapy, psycho-education and art skills. She said that over and above these groups, the organisation has grown and diversified its offering and reach.
“In recent months, Lefika has expanded in leaps and bounds. At the end of last year, the organisation received funding to adapt its community art counselling training to an online space and to develop an online platform to deliver the course which comprises eight modules,” said Shand.
Managing director Rozanne Myburgh said Lefika’s low cost/no cost clinic started towards the end of 2020 due to group facilitators identifying children in their groups who needed one-one-one counselling/ therapy. She said the clinic works in tandem with the intern programme.
“The interns facilitate groups and provide counselling and arts therapy services. Both the intern programme and the need for counselling have grown as well as the children who attend Lefika’s after-school programme and people from the community who hear about the service. With this growth there is a need for more treatment rooms,” said Myburgh.
She added that recently Lefika received wonderful news that its application for additional space in the Children’s Memorial Institute building in Parktown was approved and the organisation now has three new rooms; two small rooms for one-on-one counselling and therapy, and a bigger room for group work.
Myburgh said that due to demand, the volunteer training now takes place twice a term and anyone who wants to volunteer at Lefika must first do the training.
Details: Lefika La Phodiso www.lefikalaphodiso.co.za
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