Chef Works Inc & Lefika La Phodiso ‘Colouring Life’ Holiday Programme

School holidays are a time when children are most vulnerable and at risk due to reduced adult supervision. This creates an environment where already disadvantaged children can become exposed to further abuse and violence.

With the generous assistance of Chef Works, Lefika is able to continue our key areas of interest and goal to provide a sustainable and continuing annual holiday programme for orphaned and vulnerable children.

School holiday participants benefit from the integration of Art Therapy into the programme through:

• Increased levels of self confidence
• Becoming empowered in making the right choices
• Developing a sense of belonging, acceptance and trust
• Enhanced group dynamics and participation
• Improved school attendance and class work
• Improved communication and listening skills
• An ability to recognise feelings and emotions and process them
• Creative problem solving
• Becoming empathic, responsible and motivated.

Lefika has established strong relationships with other NGO’s who are dedicated to working closely with children in need including Childline, Khanya Family Centre and Teddy Bear Clinic.

The children we work with range in ages from 5 – 17 years and have experienced trauma through lack of a family; sometimes due to loss through HIV and/or AIDS; have been removed from family situations due to sexual and physical abuse and/or neglect; or are themselves young sexual offenders.

The Chef Works ‘Colouring Life’ holiday programme provides safety and continuous care for the children that we work with throughout the year. We believe that optimum results will be achieved if we are able to support these same groups of children throughout the year by providing consistency within their lives. This is vitally important to their development as it assists to build strong bonds of trust with Lefika’s Community Art Counsellors and maintains high levels of engagement with the children.

This approach also assists in reducing the occurrence of regressive behaviour at the end of each programme which is always a risk associated with doing standalone programmes that don’t always offer ongoing support and consistency. Our aim is to truly make a difference to these children’s lives by integrating Art Therapy tools into the programme and providing:

• a safe space for disadvantaged, orphaned and vulnerable children to have fun and play in a supportive, relaxed and caring environment where they can feel free to express their emotions and learn valuable coping skills
• a safe space to talk about their experiences at home, in society and in general and receive emotional support and tools that provide self-confidence and increased problem-solving skills
• healthy and nutritious meals to all participants within the programme to further support their immediate health and well-being by ensuring that this basic need is being met. Children are better equipped to focus and actively participate in workshop activities if they are feeling satisfied and well nourished. Sharing a meal together also provides an opportunity for participants to strengthen bonds in a warm and comforting environment.

Our holiday programme is led by our Community Art Counsellors, many of whom are also Educators, together with volunteers from the local and international community including artists, psychology students, counsellors and art counselling trainees.

If you would like to be involved in this programme please contact info@arttherapycentre.co.za for further information.

Chef Works is a proud supporter of the Lefika La Phodiso & The Chef Works ‘Colouring Life’ Holiday Programme for orphaned and vulnerable children living in under-resourced and under-serviced communities within Gauteng, South Africa. Chef Works was founded in South Africa almost 50 years ago with its head office now based in San Diego, USA.

They specialise in well-designed culinary apparel that is distributed in over 30 countries around the world. As they continue to grow they maintain their founding principles in support of numerous charitable organisations.

The school holiday programme is funded through Chef Works Corporate Social Investment (CSI) programme and aims to provide safety and continuous care to disadvantaged children within a ‘therapeutic’ framework.

It’s aim is to truly make a difference to these children’s lives by integrating Art Therapy tools into the programme, targeting those children who are most in need and providing a nutritious and healthy meal to the children thus nurturing their bodies and their emotional self.

For further information on Chef Works visit www.chefworks.com