Education, Sept. 3, 2021, 1:16 p.m.

"Stoep kuier"

My apologies to those who are not familiar with Afrikaans, but the title of our newsletter this month 'stoep kuier' is not easily translated. The closest description would be 'patio visits', 'verandah conversations' or 'porch talks'.

During our latest #TeamTalk, Marie-Louise shared this term to describe a particular and meaningful style of brief encounter she has during a busy school day. Those moments when an educator pauses for 4 or 5 minutes to catch their breath and connect with a CK therapist; filling up their tanks much like the Formula1 racing drivers do in a pitstop.

When we say 'we meet people where they are at' this is exactly what we mean. We have a buffet of services and are geared to offer a bespoke service to each client we see.

Please join us as visual storyteller Amandla Kasa takes you on a candid journey through our communities and into our schools where you will meet the people who are Community Keepers. Part of our responsibility, in creating a safe environment, plays out in our decision not to include the children in our videos; instead, the camera kneels down to the height of a child as it pans across the room to share their perspective.

Thanks to your support we have now:

built our digital resource library, Milani, in partnership with Samm Marshall's Social-TV.
produced episode 3 and 4 of our Storyline Series of animations with Studio Bolland, sponsored by The Solidarity Fund.
earned two places in the list of finalists for the Supersonic New Generation Awards with the AAA School of Advertising final year students
partnered in the pilot of CBT-based 4STMF (4 Steps To My Future) with the Universities of Stellenbosch and Bath, sponsored by The Wellcome Trust
adjusted a few of our internal communication channels in response to our recent Q12 staff engagement survey.

We are rolling out the:

Yenza career guide, sponsored by the Potter Foundation,
OVC CSI (Orphans and Vulnerable Children Child Status Index) to measure subjective well-being in our effort to align our indicators with those of the Sustainable Development Goals,
community based mental health first aiders (affectionately known as Receiving Keepers) programme to provide frontline support at schools.

In closing, we would like to introduce you to Reece Carstens. Reece holds a BA Honours in Psychology and is a Registered Counsellor. He leaves his post at one of our partner high schools to take on the role of Area Manager for the Cape Town region.

Spring is here and we feel energised. Please share your thoughts and your ideas with us. We grow because of you.

Regards, Gerrit and the Community Keepers team

"Stoep kuier"

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