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South Africa

Strong for the future: hope for young people from townships

The everyday life of young people in Willowfonteina township of Pietermaritzburg, is characterized by poverty, violence, high HIV/Aids rates and teenage pregnancies. With our partner organization Dlalanathi, we work to promote young people’s sexual health, improve their access to education and create better prospects by involving the people around them.

Voices on site

"When you have nothing to do all day, you sometimes get stupid ideas. At the youth center, I can take computer courses and write job applications."
Jugendlicher Portrait - Projekt von terre des hommes schweiz in Südafrika

Zenzele Biyase
25 years

Background

In Willowfontein HIV/Aids is part of everyday life – the region has one of the highest infection rates in South Africa. Despite this, topics such as sexuality and HIV/Aids are taboo. The distribution of roles is patriarchal and everyday family life is often characterized by violence. Young people suffer from a lack of prospects: they have hardly any participation in society, access to meeting places and prospects of a better life.

Project goals

The aim is to contribute to the reduction of HIV infections, teenage pregnancies, lack of prospects and poverty in Willowfontein in Willowfontein.

Project activities

  • Workshops for young people: We run workshops on topics such as sexual and reproductive health, personal development, education and job search, as well as on the solution-oriented approach through.
  • Education: We train committed young people to “peer educators“ fromwho are specially trained to peers on health issues to health issues.
  • Courses for parents and guardians: We run courses on communication, emotional health and positive parenting.
  • Communities and institutions: We work with communities, schools and health centers and raise their awareness of youth issues.
Jugendliche vor dem Jugendzentrum in Willowfontein, das mit Hilfe von terre des hommes schweiz gebaut werden konnte.
Young people in front of the youth center in Willowfontein, which was built with the help of terre des hommes switzerland. Photo: Hafid Derbal Photo: Hafid Derbal

Beneficiaries

Benefiting from our worktin the the past project phase 11,000 young people, 1600 family members, 600 community members and around 25 institutions.

Our partner organization

Dlalanathi works on topics such as parenting, communication between the generations and child and youth protection. The organization currently employs 16 people. terre des hommes switzerland supports Dlalanathi since 2009.

Project location and phase

The project is being carried out in Willowfontein, a suburb of Pietermaritzburg, which is affected by poverty and unemployment. The current project phase covers the years 2023–2025 with an annual budget of CHF 118,000.