Art therapy is an invaluable tool for addressing childhood trauma, especially within disadvantaged communities in South Africa, where children face significant challenges such as poverty, violence, and abuse.

In the OFM Art Beat, Nadia Lubowski and Yolanda Maartens dive into the various applications of art therapy, how these sessions change lives and the funding needed to further establish their centre in the community.

 By providing young children with creative outlets like painting, sculpturing, and storytelling, art therapy allows them to express emotions they may struggle to articulate, reduce stress, and build critical social and emotional skills.

The Anton Lubowski Educational Trust (ALET) is a non-profit organisation that was established in 2009 in memory of Nadia Lubowski's father, Namibian anti-apartheid and human rights activist and advocate Anton Lubowski, who was assassinated in September 1989, shortly before Namibia’s first independent elections.

These efforts help children process their experiences.

Nadia Lubowski, director at the Anton Lubowski Educational Trust (ALET) is leading an arts-based, trauma-informed approach in early childhood education, through her initiatives in Philippi, Cape Town. 

These efforts not only help children process their experiences, but they help adults in the community learn how to handle difficult situations better, while also creating nurturing environments that support their holistic development. ALET’s work underscores the importance of early intervention and innovative educational practices in breaking generational cycles of trauma and paving the way for children to reach their full potential.

ALET wants to establish a healing centre where these art therapy sessions can take place on a full-time basis for children and adults alike. Nadia Lubowski writes that ALET focuses on early childhood development in low socio-economic communities, paying special attention to the connection between school and home and helping to set children up for future success. 

Their flagship project is an early childhood development and family centre in the Cape Town township of Philippi, an area that suffers high levels of crime, violence, unemployment, and poverty and where children struggle to access good quality education. The vision of ALET is to help every child coming through the programme reach their full potential and live a purposeful life, breaking the cycle of poverty and hopelessness.

For more information about the work they do as well as how you can get involved, visit: www.alet.org.za 

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