{"id":229541,"date":"2022-06-23T00:46:11","date_gmt":"2022-06-22T22:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/?p=117420"},"modified":"2022-06-23T00:46:11","modified_gmt":"2022-06-22T22:46:11","slug":"thari-programme-aids-vulnerable-children-with-the-power-of-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/thari-programme-aids-vulnerable-children-with-the-power-of-play\/","title":{"rendered":"Thari Programme aids vulnerable children with the power of play"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1 \">\n<aside id=\"republication_tracker_tool-2\" class=\"republication_tracker_tool clearfix\">\n<h5 class=\"adtitle\">Republish for Free<\/h5>\n<div class=\"license\">\n<p><button name=\"Republish This Story\" id=\"cc-btn\" class=\"republication-tracker-tool-button\">Republish This Story<\/button><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"license\" rel=\"noreferrer license noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Creative Commons License\" class=\"lazyload\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/thari-programme-aids-vulnerable-children-with-the-power-of-play.png\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Creative Commons License\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/thari-programme-aids-vulnerable-children-with-the-power-of-play.png\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"message\">\n<p>Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/aside>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/?attachment_id=117421\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt width=\"300\" height=\"225\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-117421 size-thumbnail lazyload\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/thari-programme-aids-vulnerable-children-with-the-power-of-play.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-117421 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/thari-programme-aids-vulnerable-children-with-the-power-of-play.jpg\" alt width=\"300\" height=\"225\">Thari Programme aids vulnerable children with the power of play<\/p>\n<p>How much of a difference can play make in a child\u2019s life? That is the question the Thari programme is answering successfully with its Safe Park in Botshabelo township in the Free State.<\/p>\n<p>Thari is a pilot programme of Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation that is implemented by its partner entity, Adopt-a-School. The programme aims to strengthen the school community by creating a safe and empowering environment that is free from violence, inclusive, gender-sensitive and that promotes health and well-being. In addition to the provision of psychosocial support services through the services of Child and Youth Care Workers, the programme provides a therapeutic space for vulnerable children and an a safe after-care facility through a well-resourced Safe Park. The programme is implemented with the support of the community-based Botshabelo Moral Regeneration Forum.<\/p>\n<p>Learning through play is an important part of a child\u2019s development. According to UNICEF, \u201cresearch shows that playing supports many interrelated facets of development including cognitive, physical, social, emotional and language development in young children, setting the foundation on which new learning builds throughout a child\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Play allows children to explore their creativity while exercising dexterity. It promotes physical development by challenging their gross and fine motor skills. Children are also able to use their agency and control over the play experience, thereby learning important decision-making skills along with self-awareness.<\/p>\n<p>Thari\u2019s Safe Park model was first introduced in 2017 as a second pillar of the Thari Programme. It was set up at Reentseng Primary School in Botshabelo as a pilot. This is a safe space where children can feel protected, and nurtured and where they have access to homework supervision groups along with extracurricular activities. The park equipment is designed to enhance gross and fine motor skills along with core strength for children. To expand play-based learning even further, children are afforded the opportunity to gain experience to play chess, and scrabble, enjoy storytelling and take part in indigenous games. Trained Child and Youth Care Workers supervise play in the Safe Park during school breaks as well as after school.<\/p>\n<p>Bernice Maponyane, the Programme Manager at Adopt-a-School, says: \u201cChildhood is meant to be a carefree time for curiosity, exploration and laughter. The reality is many children don\u2019t get to experience that daily and often must face situations that would be taxing to even full-grown adults. In the Safe Park, children can be children. They are safe, cared for and they\u2019re learning while having fun.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It is at the Safe Park that the Child and Youth Care Workers are often able to observe children experiencing emotional difficulties. The collaboration with the Botshabelo Moral Regeneration Forum that consists of service providers from government departments and local NGOs has enabled professionals and other active community members to engage with children at the Safe Park and facilitate awareness campaigns on child abuse, substance abuse, teenage pregnancy, Gender-Based Violence and other challenges that affect children\u2019s learning abilities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Thari Programme has reached out to over 900 children through psychosocial support services, and over 5 000 through Safe Park activities at eight schools since its inception in 2017. The aim of the pilot was to experience how the school communities would respond to the programme, forge collaboration to address daily challenges that children are faced with, and explore the potential of the programme to be replicated and scaled up as an evidence-based model.\u201d says Maponyane<br \/>\u201cThe Safe Park model was a very different approach, but it has proved that play is at the heart of child development and, by using that as our focus, we are able to nurture and support the children more effectively and then take steps to address the issues at home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thari hopes to be able to create more Safe Parks and offer training for more Child and Youth Care Workers. The Safe Park model is a relatively cost-effective, community-based intervention that upholds children\u2019s rights as enshrined in the Children\u2019s Act 38 of 2005, to \u201c\u2026afford them the necessary protection and assistance\u2026for the full and harmonious development of his or her personality\u2026in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/mypr.co.za\/contact\/featured\/\">CLICK HERE to submit your press release to MyPR.co.za<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p> <span class=\"post-views-icon dashicons dashicons-chart-bar\"><\/span> <span class=\"post-views-label\">Press Release Views:<\/span> <span class=\"post-views-count\">119<\/span> <\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-pagination pagination\">Pages: <span class=\"post-page-numbers current\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Page <\/span>1<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/thari-programme-aids-vulnerable-children-with-the-power-of-play\/2\/\" class=\"post-page-numbers\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Page <\/span>2<\/a><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\">Source: MyPR.co.za<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Republish for Free Republish This Story Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. Thari Programme aids vulnerable children with the power of play How much of a difference can play make in a child\u2019s life? That is the question the Thari programme is answering successfully with its Safe [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":229542,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9021,1],"tags":[3257],"class_list":{"0":"post-229541","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mypr","8":"category-south-africa","9":"tag-mypr","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/thari-programme-aids-vulnerable-children-with-the-power-of-play.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229541\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}