How a sandbox can help to heal a child
Breadline Africa is often asked for funds for psycho-social help for vulnerable children. I thought it may be useful to talk a little about what this is. Children in poor areas are often exposed to many things that they should not be exposed to. Overcrowding means one lives cheek by jowl with strangers and may witness acts of violence. Children and youth are also prey, particularly in areas of high unemployment, to abuse. An added ingredient is that young people are now having to nurse seriously ill parents as the HIV pandemic ravages through their parent’s age group . Eventually children witness their parents dying . They have to bury them and try to carry on with their lives.
The emotional and psychological burdens on these young people are enormous and many of the organizations we support find that on- going counseling and various therapies assist children in coming to terms with their past, integrating the experiences and gaining a resilience in order to carry on with their lives. One of the tools which staff use is a sandbox: with various figures: adults, teachers, parents and items: guns, knives, bottle of tablets etc . Under careful supervision and guidance, children can play out their experiences (and maybe their future) at a distance which helps with making the issues visible and which can then be addressed without too much trauma.
Audrey from Usizolwethu In KwaZulu Natal, an organisation working with children and youth ,demonstrates to us how one uses the sandbox, in her organisation.
All | Edna Titus May 19, 2010
