Together we are strong

If older people are supported by a pension, other dependable household members are also benefitting to some extent. A spouse, a handicapped person or - most frequently - grandchildren in care of the older people.

Since Kwa Wazee started, the support for older people was increased by child supplements for every child who is in their care. Grandchildren in an older person's home can significantly contribute to the livelihood by fetching water, by collecting firewood and by bearing company to the older people. In 2014 child supplements for a total of 750 children were paid to older 'carers'.

In parallel to the mutual support groups of older people a network of children groups was built up and developed over the years: Tatu Tano – which means 'three to five' - as most children form very small groups in their close neighbourhood. The children are active in group saving activities, in doing small forms of trade, in cultivating land, which also contributes to the livelihood of their households.

The specific work with children revealed the need to better protect girls who are often victims of abuse and violation and to also sensitize boys to issues of gender and to violence. Workshops for girls in self defence were developed and showed very promising results. The workshop are now organisad in most villages. In addition to this special workshops for boys focus on alternatives to violent behaviour.

For these latter activities, Kwa Wazee Nshamba receives direct support from private initiatives, donor groups and organisations.

What means «child-led organisation?

    • Self-organization and participation of the groups: children organize themselves in groups and elect their leaders (75 % girls), they select one or more projects additional to their own common activities, they report every quarter about their activities and the finances in the groups, they are ready to accept the task and the responsibility of a facilitator (in self-defense, PiaD, I feel it, as agrofacilitators and in learning groups – around 300 facilitators from TatuTano).
    • Psychosocial support: Information and techniques regarding non-violence and self-protection, support to build the self-confidence through the participation in the groups and the cluster meetings, practical learning and exercising of competences e.g. planning, cooperation, common decisions, dealing with conflicts, financial literacy (loans, profit and its use, savings etc). The groups and the courses - as a from of frequent interaction - offer a special possibility for dealing with traumas – this in an area in rural Africa without specialized personnel. Especially girls are often victims of sexual violence (up to 50 % in some area – e. g. Muleba) do not dare to communicate what happened to them to caretakers or relatives. Important learning comes from Peter A. Levine (Sprache ohne Worte): «Groups, courses and meeting allow concerned children to obtain and integrate compassion and support (…) and to experience safety (…) and to get open for the contact with other people» (p. 147).
    • Promote sustainability by self-doing by the members in the group, in the clusters and essentially in their projects – enable them to be «makers» and also «breakers» defending their rights – through realizing bottom-up approaches to strengthen their capabilities.

More about kids support groups

Three contributions by Kurt Madörin to TatoTano:
TatuTano - a Child-led organisation
TatuTano - a tool for psychosocial support
TatuTano – a „complex system“

TatoTano 2018: Latest information from Kurt Madörin about TatoTano (PDF, 150 KB)

“Empowering children affected by HIV/AIDS to meet their own needs through child-led organisations” is based on a text written by Glynis Clatcherty as a case study for RIATT-ESA. It refers to the principles of a child-led organization and to the impact of this intervention on the psycho-social well-being of children affected by HIV and AIDS.

“Tatu Tano – a portrait” is a more detailed description of the Tatu Tano project:

1. Background and shared characteristics of children living with grandparents and children living with HIV infected parents
2. Looking at children as “carers” of older people and unwell parents
3. Guidelines for interventions and activities
4. Milestones

The decrease of sexual violence and the increase of safety of the members is considered as a core outcome of the TatuTano-activities. The following documents inform about this goal:

“Self-defense for girls – a workbook”: The 20 topics in the workbook complete the technical training of the self-defense techniques and contribute to build up protective life skills. The workbook is also available in Kiswahili.

“Impact assessment of Self Defense - the view of the participants”: The first part informs about the activities in Nshamba, the second part summarizes the results of the assessment, and the third part links the results to a number of indicators of psychosocial well-being.

Self-Defence for girls. A Video by Harm van Atteveld, 6 min.