Recent participants in a School of Hard Knocks workshop.
A non-profit company, the School of Hard Knocks (SoHK), has launched a programme to tackle the mental health burdens that girls and women bear.
Last week, SoHK celebrated 20 young women who have completed a three-week training course to run the NxtGenWomxn programme.
The programme facilitators work for community development organisations across Cape Town, particularly in areas such as Khayelitsha, Gugulethu, and Hanover Park that are plagued by social ills.
The NxtGenWomxn programme consists of six one-hour sessions to help participants recognise and regulate emotions, improve relationships, cope with emotional distress, and boost their overall mental well-being.
Lana Rolfe, SoHK’s chief operating officer, said they had come up with the programme after schools they worked with had reported, in 2022, higher levels of self-harm, substance abuse, teenage pregnancy, and suicide ideation and attempts than ever before.
"The programme has been extensively piloted and is now ready for phase one roll-out," she said.
One of the newly trained facilitators, Tammy-Jo Matthews, from the Hanover Park-based First Community Resource Centre, works primarily with young girls and children with traumatic backgrounds.
"I’ve learned a lot of techniques and tools that I can now implement with the kids I work with, all of whom come from backgrounds of trauma and struggle to deal with their emotions. With the tools and manual we received from this workshop, I can now support our young girls and even our boys in regulating their emotions, having difficult conversations, and understanding the importance of relationships and mental health," she said.
Ms Matthews said many women in her community were in unhealthy relationships but did not realise it.
“They don’t understand that the relationship is unhealthy; they think it’s normal. Understanding that they are worthy of so much more will give them a sense of belonging and the tools to leave the situations they are struggling to escape.”
She said she had attended a funeral in early August of a woman who had allegedly been killed by her gangster partner.
“She didn’t know how to leave the relationship, so she was stuck there for years, and now it has led to her death. It’s heartbreaking, and we must start working with young girls to make them understand their worth and that they don’t have to stay in such relationships and environments.”
Another participant, Indivile Magadlela, of Gugulethu, said: “The tools we’ve gained will help us be emotionally stronger, and we can pass these skills on to others. This programme has empowered me with the skills to deal with mental health situations, and, more importantly, to share those skills with others, whether at work, in the community, or within the family.”
Nontuthuzelo Ndongeni, also from Gugulethu, reflected on the stigma around mental health in black families, where talking about such issues is often discouraged, leading to deteriorating mental health.
“For me, the big thing is to help kids so they don’t experience the mental health challenges we faced. To prevent it before it even happens. In underprivileged communities, people don’t talk about mental health or how it impacts physical well-being. Exposing children to these kinds of helping mechanisms drives me to be involved in community development work.”
Visit schoolofhardknocks.co.za or email info@schoolofhardknocks.co.za for more information.
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