Sakha Isizwe Development Organisation (Building The Nation )

Sakha Isizwe Development Organization in partnership with
The Institute for Healing of Memories hosted a workshop on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Delft, Cape Town.
Gender-Based Violence, Femicide and Human Trafficking are ongoing “burning issues” in many communities which Sakha works in.

Sakha Isizwe Development together with the Institute for Healing of Memories hosted a reunion with 10 Ladies who was apart of the publication in 2016

1. Introduction
Sakha Isizwe Development Organization was founded in 2012 by Julita Dorman, a former fulltime employee of the Foundation for Community Work (FCW). Julita established a credible and valuable Early Childhood Development network in Delft, during her stint as a community worker for FCW. She decided to apply her valuable skillset and experience to serve and strengthen families holistically by focusing on the role of parents as an entry point.
Since their establishment the organization birthed various initiatives:
• Served 675 children and 661 parents & caregivers per year in strengthening access to Early Childhood Development services at home and community level.
• Facilitated healing journeys for 700 adults.
• Facilitated 250 parenting workshops reaching approximately 650 parents & caregivers per year.
• Served 20 female school dropouts to facilitate access to their matric qualification through the organization’s “Mom’s School” programme.
In 2021 Sakha will use their relationship with current constituents as an entry point to address the factors that contribute to gender based and community violence by targeting vulnerable adolescents.
Sakha has been operating as an implementing partner of the Foundation for Community Work (FCW). Due to financial constraints, there has been limited funding to continue this journey in 2021 and beyond.
Sakha would like to continue their work and kindly request your support in this regard.
2. Situational Analysis
The community known as Delft was established in 1989 as part of an apartheid era integrated project meant to accommodate so-called coloured and black African residents of the city. The community is considered a historically disadvantaged area in South African terms.
According to the latest official census results the Delft community has about 150 000 local residents of which approximately 52% are so-called coloured (Afrikaans speaking) and 46% are black African (predominantly Xhosa speaking) citizens. The community is considered vulnerable in socio-economic terms as about 30% of the local population has a primary school level education while about 52% made it to secondary school level. Thus, a very small portion of the community has a formal education at high school graduation level. This has a huge impact on the nature of employment and subsequent household income levels for local residents. About 45% of the local population either earn no income or fall in the R1 – R1 600 monthly income bracket.
It is particularly concerning that in this fragile socio-economic context lives a rather young population. Approximately 30% of the local community consists of children in the 0-14 age bracket while 20.6% of the residents are in the 15 -24 years age bracket. There is, obviously, a huge need for education related services but given the dire economic situation it is clear that the community needs social development assistance to complement formal education initiatives.
Sakha was created to serve parents and children in this context with a strong focus on early childhood development initiatives. However, the social context of Delft, and communities with similar demographics and histories, indicate a dire need for the socio-emotional support of young men and women given the interpersonal nature of violence spiraling out of control.
3. Overview: Sakha Isizwe Development Organization
The founder of this initiative, Julita Dorman, and her team (with the initial guidance and leadership of FCW) designed the programmatic concepts of Sakha Isizwe with a well-defined vision in mind i.e., that in a densely populated community (like Delft), with a large young population in dire need of holistic nurturing, the family unit is the most crucial building block of the community. The organization aims to nurture social cohesion via participatory educational activities focused on young children, adolescents and healing spaces for their caregivers. The model is a practical intervention which addresses the top three most crucial needs of the community i.e., the need for social cohesion, access to early learning opportunities for children and creating a safe space for healing.
Please see the Addendum for a brief bio of the founding leader, Julita Dorman.
3.1 Objectives
Objective 1: To enable collective and individual healing & learning via workshops focused on personal development and the link to early childhood development of children and teenagers
One of the most destructive consequences of dire socio-economic strife is the impact on both the individual and collective mental health of a community. Parenting is a challenging role in the best of circumstances thus when adults have to perform this critical role facing social and economic barriers, it becomes all the more daunting and requires systemic support. The acknowledgment and healing of trauma is a crucial part of the parents’ journey and a core value add-on of the Sakha Isizwe model.
Personal Development workshops offered by Sakha Isizwe specifically focus on the following outcomes:
• By the end of the session participants would have had an opportunity to reflect on their life and see the choices they made as teenagers or young adults that negatively or positively impacted on their lives
• They would have had an opportunity to realize that as adults they are now capable of changing their direction and then determining their own destination
• They would be able to plan realistic future goals for themselves, in the form of a life plan

The organization has a formal partnership with the Institute for the Healing of Memories who empowers both Sakha Isizwe leaders and their community facilitators with conflict resolution skills, trauma healing interventions and general support.
Objective 2: Impart Early Childhood Development (ECD) skills for caregivers with children in the 0-6 age bracket who lack access to formal pre-school education.
One of the great challenges facing our communities is the lack of early learning opportunities for children in the most crucial phase of their development i.e., the first six years of life. Sakha Isizwe has trained an army of home-visiting ECD Ambassadors who are able to nurture home-based caregivers by building on their knowledge in the early stimulation of their children to develop their basic literacy and numeracy skills. A part of this process is an initial assessment to determine the child’s ability as a baseline exercise and to determine progress post intervention. Sakha Isizwe encourages the production of basic educational toys made with recyclable material via their home visiting programme. Furthermore, the ECD Ambassadors do an informal screening to determine if caregivers require emotional support or other services. This enables them do referrals to support services, including their own personal development and parenting workshops.
Objective 3: Parenting workshops
The degree of wellbeing of the child is strongly linked to the social environment as sustained by the parents. With this in mind the parenting workshops specifically focus on parenting skills. While trying to strengthen future educational growth, coping skills will target improving existing social aspects within the family dynamics.
It is the responsibility of the ECD Ambassadors to engage and encourage the parent to attend the workshops. The ECD Ambassadors are used as facilitators in order to insure a higher level of engagement from the community members.
The aim of the workshops focuses on the parent and includes the development of social, emotional and mental skills. Information is channeled through to the parents in a practical way and in this way, it sets a firm foundation and the child benefits indirectly. The interactive participation and group work allow for active participation. The focus is on enhancing parenting skills in each household. For this reason, the educational workshops are carefully constructed to touch on real life topics such as; Hopes and Dreams, Parents are precious, the development of the child, alternative discipline, communication & Our future. Issues around hygiene and safety are addressed within the sessions
As Sakha Isizwe rises to the challenge and addresses the problem directly, the focus is on holistic development of human well-being through a collaboration of different professions. This is achieved through the partnership created between interdisciplinary and intersectoral stakeholders, where the beneficiaries receive maximum benefit and development within the educational family program.
Objective 4: To build a network of community stakeholders as a support system for vulnerable caregivers
One of the primary objectives for Sakha Isizwe is to connect the caregivers in their programme to services and opportunities beyond the scope of their work. This requires a solid community network of local organizations prepared for a referral system. While Sakha has birthed amazing networks via their partnership with the Institute for the Healing of Memories, We Can, Young People at Work, local Libraries, Day Hospitals, Churches, feeding schemes, etc., they are still exploring other ways to solidify their relationships with other service providers in the community.
3.2 Request for assistance to expand focus to include Objective 5: Support adolescent girls and boys to stem the tide of interpersonal and community violence
Sakha recognizes the urgent need to respond to the pleas for community and interpersonal violence, including gender-based violence, to be addressed at community level and within the home.
Given our commitment to Early Childhood Development and the power of the formative years, we believe that the healing journey for the violence issue starts with adolescent hearts and minds.
Hence the ask is for you to support us on our journey of adding this component of work to our portfolio.
In 2021 we aim to work with 100 young adolescents in the communities of Delft in order to start the healing work towards inner peace which will manifest in domestic and community peace.
The programme will be designed towards the following outcomes for the young people:
• By the end of the session participants would have had an opportunity to look back into their life and see the choices they made that negatively or positively affected their lives.
• They would have had an opportunity to take responsibility for their actions e.g., realizing that even though there are factors in our childhood that contributed to the negative decisions we made as teenagers or young adults, as adults we are capable of changing our direction and then determining our own destination
• They would be able to plan realistic future goals for themselves, in the form of a life plan.

6. Conclusion
Sakha Isizwe works in solidarity with communities facing great socio-economic barriers to ensure a stronger foundation for the children. The programme addresses the three most crucial needs of the community i.e., the need for social cohesion, access to early learning opportunities for children and creating a safe space for healing. Our greatest opportunities are wrapped in our gravest challenges. We welcome you to support us as we explore this opportunity for the children in the most vulnerable Cape Town communities.
Thank you for considering our organisation and giving us of your precious time. In order for us to continue the sustainability of this amazing organisation and help more needy families, we would highly appreciate your support.

Addendum A
The organization is steered by an exceptional team of people led by the inspiring Julita Dorman.
Julita started her career as a tea-girl and was identified as a talented and spirited leader by her former boss. She was selected to be mentored into a role as a creditors clerk within the same company. Eventually she followed her heart and joined the NGO sector where she was employed by St. Anne’s Shelter, a shelter for abused mothers and children in Woodstock, as their House Mother, supervising the day to day running of the main house. In 2001 she joined FCW as the Project Coordinator/Facilitator/Trainer. In 2012 she founded Sakha Isizwe Development Organization under the guidance of Mr., Riedewhaan Allie, the Director of the Foundation for Community Work. Julita counts anti-apartheid hero, Father Michael Lapsley, Director of The Institute for the Healing of Memories, as one of her mentors. She is well trained and highly experienced in early childhood development, post- trauma healing for adults and building community networks to create opportunities for the aforementioned to flourish. Julita is respected and admired as a community leader and mentor with great credibility in the community as well as wider circles in the NGO sector.
To assist with her facilitation skills, she successfully completed the Advanced Certificate in Education in Adult Education at the University of Cape Town in 2019. She also completed the Certificate of Competence in Substance Abuse at the University of the Western Cape in 2018 and the Management Programme for NPO’s at the University of Stellenbosch in 2015.
“On the job” experience has afforded her a well-rounded skill set, including first rate critical and analytical thinking skills, good governance and efficient budget management. In addition to her experience and personal qualities, she is passionate about humanitarian work and relief efforts for underprivileged communities

2019 graduation Sakha little Angels