An international student reflects on her experience after having the opportunity to visit one of the Young Mother Support initiatives in Villiersdorp, the Blossom Café. Co-created and supported by Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve.

This afternoon, we met a larger group of young girls at the “Blossom Café.” The girls meet every two weeks. The local Flourish host is one of the people responsible for organizing it.

We all sat in a circle, and we started right away with a dance, which helped lighten the mood, especially because some of the girls were shy. After that, we prayed and introduced ourselves. Even if you don’t believe in God, it was a few moments of reflection where you could look within yourself.

I personally felt like part of the group because it was also new for the girls (it had only recently started), and we were given the same task to complete together. We had to write down on a piece of paper what makes us sad or afraid. Even though it was anonymous, I found it hard to write something down. I wasn’t sure if I should open up that much.

I wrote: losing someone I love, Violence, Not being honest, Unfairness.

Looking back, I think I should have written more and allowed myself to be more open. The girls around me didn’t hesitate and wrote a lot. That surprised me because, as a young child, you usually have fewer fears, don’t you? But, of course, this is extremely personal and individual.

Once we were done, we all put our papers in a box, and each person had to take a random one and read it loud anonymously. Almost every girl had written about bullying at school. That made me really sad because it reminded me that I was also excluded at times in elementary school. I’m so grateful that this is no longer the case for me in high school, and I hope the girls will be able to rise above it and build real friendships. It’s heartbreaking how mean children can be and how much they can hurt others…

Some girls wrote that they were afraid of getting pregnant. As an 11-year-old, I never had the fear of getting pregnant or being raped, and that makes me so sad. But the facilitator said she would be there for the girls and support them, which made me really happy.

Two girls have also lost their parents, which reminded me of a question a girl from the Earthlings (Eco-Educational club, Stormsriver, Tsitsikamma) asked me: Do you have a mom and dad? At that moment, I just wanted to hug my parents.

At the end, we had a discussion where we talked about the importance of supporting one another. My classmate summed it up perfectly by saying how important it is for women to use their voices. It felt so good to talk about female empowerment together. I felt personnaly really empowered. The feeling was incredible, I had goosebumps.

(Now that I’m going over this again, International Women’s Day was on March 8th, and this day is just so important! Women can achieve anything they want, and it’s about supporting young women and encouraging them, including myself, because I sometimes have doubts too.)

Further reading and background of the reflection…

In February, the Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve team had the pleasure of hosting the yearly cross-cultural trip with the Athénée school Edulink class from Luxembourg. The students and teachers’ part-took in various projects and educational activities, learning alongside local youth, having cross-cultural engagements over the course of two weeks.

Athénée Action Humanitaire, the school NGO, have supported Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve eco-educational and socio-economic projects since 2016, reaching over 26 000 people.

Photo features the first Blossom Cafe outing that took place last year. The girls, accompanied by facilitators, visited Two Oceans Aquarium.

The Blossom café workshops, for girls aged 12 – 16, are co-facilitated bi-weekly with the Flourish host, alongside two additional facilitators. The aim is for the vulneable girls in the community to gain access to available resources, build a strong support system in the community, foster healthy friendships, and recieve nutrition education.

Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve also supports the Flourish host in her mission to reach and educate at-risk young pregnant mothers, unemployed, or suffering from substance abuse. Flourish is a national Grow Great initiative offering 10-week classes in post and antenatal classes, focusing on the first 1000 days of a baby’s life. They baby and the mother’s health and wellbeing.

Mothers, children, the Villiersdorp community, Provincial and National stakeholders gathered together to celebrate the official opening of a new centre in Villiersdorp. A shared space for young mothers, mental and physical disability support through Tools for Life, and skills development workshops.  

In partnership with Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve (CWBR), the Centre has been made possible through Athénée Action Humanitaire NGO Luxembourg. Funds raised through the Yvonne Zeimen Young Mother Support Programme and Schuman Rotary Club, Luxembourg. The newly installed centre is an expansion and shares the space with an existing Villiersdorp initiative, Tools for Life, who work with mentally and physically differently abled.

The event was attended by the CWBR team, 70 Flourish graduates: mothers and their children, the Tools for Life team, as well as 30 various representatives from the Department of Education, the local clinic, and the national head of Flourish.

Activities included education on homemade sensory and educational toys for children, gifting crochet teddy bears made by ladies in the community for the children, and various speeches acknowledging the importance of young mother support and the strengthened community that it has fostered in Villiersdorp. The event closed with words from Tools for Life, and the Flourish Anthem. A song written by the Flourish hosts son. 

Handing out crochet toys

Exploring the new centre

Stakeholder discussions

Listen to the Flourish Anthem

Find out more about the network: https://flourishnetwork.org.za/

Marking the end of 2021, it was highlighted that partnerships, collaboration, and passionate mentors invested in their communities are the cornerstone for long-term solutions in outreach and relevant meaningful impact. This holds true to Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve team’s involvement in Villiersdorp, where we met a woman passionate about bettering the lives of children, young mothers, and pregnant girls in the community.  

Villiersdorp, an agricultural town in the fruit-packing industry of the Western was severely affected by the Covid pandemic adding to the already existing poverty problem. Through a local farmer who works closely with the community, the CWBR team distributed 100 food parcels on a bi-weekly basis and were invited to meet the key role players of the community-driven initiative, one of them being Sophy, who we later discovered was also a Flourish* Host working with young mothers.

The CWBR team visited the community-run soup kitchens, who with Sophy and a group of ladies, had grown from 3 to 10 locations to meet the rapid increase in hunger due to loss of jobs. Over 3000 individuals were fed three times a week and family members also supported the project by assisting with sanitizing, serving food, or delivering food to those who were unable to walk to the distribution points.

Increasing need

Homecooked meals

Sponsored equipment

Meals on wheels

Recognizing that food parcels were not a long-term solution, the CWBR team was asked for assistance by Sophy to start up community gardens to promote dignity, health, nutrition, and food security within the community. Ongoing Food Security Workshops were facilitated firstly on a weekly, then monthly basis. The CWBR team helped implement two community food gardens and several private home gardens.

Learning practices

Being an example

Sharing with youth

Flourish Garden

An additional community food garden was established last year together with the mothers participating in Flourish classes and overseen by Sophy. The harvest will contribute to a local soup kitchen and mothers with young children and babies, encouraging health and nutrition.

As the relationship has grown, so has the CWBR’s volunteer involvement in the Flourish Workshops facilitated by Sophy.

In October 2021, a mental health workshop was facilitated with the participants of the current Flourish class in honour of Mental Health Month. The workshop took place during a weekend retreat for fifteen mothers, some expecting and with young children. The Workshop was facilitated by a local psychology student and unpacked what mental health is, ways of looking after oneself and nurturing one's mental health. The mothers asked for more similar initiatives where they could share their experiences, learn more about themselves and bond.

Since then, an Athénée Action Humanitaire volunteer and a local retired teacher have become more involved in the Flourish Workshops on a bi-weekly basis. Contributing through breath-work, pre and postnatal yoga classes, presentations on health and nutrition, and teaching jewellery making as an alternative form of income. The programme culminates in graduation ceremonies for the mum and baby, as well as a much-needed baby shower. 

Bonding

Postnatal Yoga

Mental Health

Workshop

An outing for the most recent Flourish mums was arranged in April at the farm in Franschhoek. The mothers were inspired to grow their own veggies, made a toy mobile for their babies, and had time to enjoy the beautiful environment at the farm and the sound of the birds. Each mother received a gift pack with seedlings and a pregnancy journal.   

Celebratory lunch

Exploring

Digital microscope

Flourish Mothers

Not forgetting the men in the families, a workshop was also hosted for the fathers of the children earlier in the year by Sophy, fostering the importance of their presence and bond with their child.

Through this collaboration, and what the CWBR team has learned from the community, additional funds have been raised to implement a project addressing the rise in young pregnant girls since the start of the pandemic; the Yvonne Zeimen Young Mothers Support Programme. Via the Blossom Café, the CWBR will organize a mobile support system to reach out to these pregnant girls and young mothers in the different communities. It will be a space to bond, learn new skills, and offer time with a psychologist who is not from the community. This project will build onto an existing service of Flourish hosts, who are a partner of the team. Partnerships also include school educators, social workers and local NPO.

The project was introduced at a local primary school to girls from grade four to seven and the first visit with the Blossom Café is due to take place later this month.

It is a privilege to know and work together with such dedicated women who are involved in their own community’s health, dignity, and future.

* Flourish is an NPO who, through trained hosts, facilitate post and prenatal classes for young pregnant mothers and mothers with young children. Focusing on the first 1 000 days of a child's life. They support and empower mothers to establish a solid foundation for their baby’s success, health, and wellbeing.

A peek at Sophy’s garden at home and the Flourish Community Garden which have a variety of vegetables growing. The CWBR team assists with Food Garden Workshops regularly and provide seedlings on a needs basis.

The CWBR has created a short film, on The Health and Nutrition Programme, which has been featured as part of UNESCO’s Proud to Share campaign. The video has been published on the UNESCO website and available to view on several social media platforms.

Links to featured video:

UNESCO Facebook Youtube Twitter

All around the world, incredible people are working to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The #ProudToShare campaign by UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) aims to share their stories and show how communities are making a difference in Biosphere Reserves.