Recently, we met with the leaders of a community after-school facility known as iKhaya le Themba. At iKhaya le Themba, the youngest, most vulnerable children of the community find safety, a nutritional meal and supplementary classes during the long periods when they would ordinarily be left home alone. They asked us if we could do something about their sports field - a rock-hard dust bowl.
As an agency, we accepted the challenge, but thought we could do more than simply lay some AstroTurf. We realised that what these children really needed, more than a sports field, was support. So we focused our efforts on the sideline; the place parents and guardians (in more privileged communities) gather to show their support for young sports stars.
We created an initiative to bring the supportive voices of family and loved ones to the sidelines of the iKhaya le Themba sports field. The sideline allows us to create something more than a sports field, it allows us to create a culture of positive affirmation.
We call our initiative The Sound of Hope, as it allows the community to use their voices to cheer on the children as they play, even when parents and loved ones can't physically be there. Simply put, the Sound of Hope is a personalised sideline sound system that brings excited, proud, involved parents, family and loved ones to every game, practice session and playtime.
We will get the community to contribute in a way even they didn't know they could. We will empower them as benefactors. We will ask for donations - donations of a different kind. Donations of loud, excited, proud words of encouragement for all the students.
We all know that a parent or loved one's affirmation is incredibly important to a child's early development. We now have the power to bring this to the children of iKhaya le Themba with a simple, smart and sustainable solution.
Anyone can contribute to this project by visiting the crowd funding website, Thunda Fund
Any donation will help, and will be greatly appreciated, as we raise funds to bring this initiative to life.
