neWS UPDaTeS

We are sad to be bidding farewell to “Drop it Down”, our latest graduates from our transitional Programme ProSeed. This group was formed in 2015 and its name “Drop it Down” was derived from a group session where young people challenged each other to be real and genuine, and say what’s on their mind no matter how difficult it may be. The group consisted of 20 young people from 6 different Child and Youth Care Centre’s (CYCC). They engaged with the programme through their individual mentors and by visiting the Mamelani offices throughout the past 36 months. During the first 18 months the programme facilitated a range of experiential group sessions that gave the young people real opportunities to be able to engage practically with the community outside of the CYCC. Some of these experiential sessions were the Amazing Race in the CBD, an Impi or Warrior Challenge, Cooking competitions, Wilderness – Rites of Passage camps and obstacle courses. Alongside the experiential processes, all youth were afforded a transitional facilitator/mentor who walked alongside them to plan and work towards the young person’s pathway. The pathway can really be anything the young person feels is important to pursue such as Education, Tertiary Education, Employment, family reunion, Identity documents or even relationship building with peers or adults in their lives. We are proud that majority of the graduates are now currently either working or studying full-time. We wish them all abundant success outside the nest of our programme and as they venture into the world.