HopeHIV writes about Zakheni

Sunday, 01 March 2009 15:12

HOPEHIV has funded Zakheni Arts Therapy Foundation since 2003 to deliver a range of services assisting children and young people affected by HIV/AIDS by using the creative arts in a therapeutic manner. Zakheni is a small NGO comprised of highly skilled and effective creative arts therapists whose work has been of a consistently high professional standard.

Their work has been independently evaluated assessed by South African Institute of Traumatic Stress (SAITS) and recommended for scale out.

Our partnership began with our funding of the delivery of therapeutic sessions for children in Baragwanath hospital in Soweto and at Beautiful Gate childrens’ home in Cape Town. Then following a conference in November 2003 (attended by all our 45 project partners spread across East and Southern Africa) when Zakheni made a presentation about their work, we supported Zakheni to make their materials and techniques much more widely available in the children’s sector. This involved training care workers from a wide range of organisations focusing on orphans and vulnerable children in creative and therapeutic techniques. This whole process became known as ‘The FireMaker Project’.

Then in 2007, in partnership with UNICEF South Africa and the Western Cape Department of Social Development, we supported Zakheni to equip facilitators in both Gauteng and Western Cape to deliver FireMaker workshops with care workers.

Russell Davies, Director HopeHIV AFRICA