Teaching the youth

The organisation is based in Blue Hills and was established in 2011 by teachers Ann Parker and Nicole Mamadi. Using 50 homemade puppets they put on shows for children between the ages of three to nine teaching them about issues such as sexual abuse, ‘stranger danger’, bullying, and poor health and hygiene.

Parker said it was the responsibility of adults to protect children from all these dangers. “One in four children are abused in South Africa, and I have seen it on my doorstep. It is important that young children and teachers are aware of this,” she said.

Kids R Special currently performs three different puppets shows; Safe and Sound which teaches children to say ‘no’ in cases of inappropriate touching and sexual abuse, Good Clean Fun which focuses on clean health and hygiene, and Heroes and Bullies which highlights the effects and prevention of bullying.

“We teach them about dangerous situations and the ways they can prevent these things from effecting them,” said Mamadi. “It’s important because if you never teach a child about safety they will never learn.”

The organisation is in the process of developing more puppet shows that will touch on a wider variety of issues, and is starting a multi-media platform to spread their message across South Africa.

Parker said, “We are planning a multimedia programme to teach children life skills to help them live out their dreams. We want to do a DVD series with songs on CD which we would like to show on TV, put into community clinics and schools. We would also like to do a sound track for radio stations, and live puppet and road shows in local communities.”

Parker said she was looking for someone who could assist her with the salary of the translator who assists her with the shows.

Details: 082 293 6097 or ann@kidsrspecial.org.za