Lalela

Lalela provides educational arts for youth from under-resourced communities to spark creative thinking and awaken the entrepreneurial spirit.

Lalela is an award-winning, registered Non-Profit Organisation (NPO 090608) that has impacted the lives of over 58000 youths since the launch of our arts-education programme in the township of Imizamo Yethu in 2010. Since then, Lalela’s reach has expanded to include programmes throughout the Western Cape as well as in Gauteng and Zimbabwe.

Art education enriches the lives of young people, increasing their academic, social, mental and economic well-being over the long term. By designing our curriculum at the intersection of arts education, academic achievement, and critical life skills, Lalela’s workshops promote holistic development.

In collaboration with no-fee schools and other community partners, we provide a safe and supportive environment where children can express themselves through the arts, particularly during the crucial after-school hours when guidance is most needed. We begin nurturing creativity as early as age six and continue to support our students until they matriculate.

Many of the children who started at Lalela 15 years ago have gone on not only to complete high school and tertiary education, but to manifest their dreams into noteworthy careers and meaningful life paths, in so many ways due to the transformative power of the arts.

In addition to our regular after school workshops, Lalela has rolled out our curriculum to hundreds of thousands of students through the National Arts Council Heart Map Social Cohesion programme and our Trauma Curriculum teacher training programme.

The NAC HeartMap Social Cohesion Programme has trained 1,258 teachers from 983 schools, reaching 171,679 learners!

1,464 teachers from 628 schools have participated in the Trauma Curriculum training, reaching more than 142,000 learners!