Spring In South Africa

It has been a while!

Hello! It has been so long since I have reached out! Thank you for your continued commitment to Courageous Care and the work we are doing in South Africa to bring trauma-informed care to schools, churches, and ministries. The last few months have been full of work and life! I have included lots of pictures so that you can see what we have been up to the last few months! If you would like to keep updated more frequently, please check out our Facebook and Instagram that we update every week.

We also have great news… WE ARE COMING TO AMERICA! Venesch finally received his visa! We have been working for years trying to get the paperwork sorted, and the US consulate finally approved him. We are researching tickets now to be in Texas in November and through the new year. We are hoping to make contact with everyone while we are there! Stay tuned for more dates and information because we want to see you!

I am on my fourth group of women for the antenatal class this year! That is 64 women who go for information on caring for themselves and their newborn. Pregnancy and birth is a vulnerable time, but knowledge, self-advocacy, and confidence help women move from having stressful births to being empowered in the birthing space. This day we talked about how to swaddle and how to respond to a crying newborn!

Another part of my antenatal class is helping the mothers connect to their values through creativity. This helps them prepare to be the mothers that they want to be rather than be guided by fear and cultural expectations.

I am loving working with families and supporting their journey to healthier relationships. This is how generational cycles of trauma are broken, when parents, kids, and siblings learn to support each other. (Note: these two kiddos are not actually in counseling as confidentiality is key to a good counseling relationship. But I did have a great time playing with them!)

Sometimes Courageous Care gets to support families in alternate ways. This kiddo needed some school supplies, and we were able to get him his requested Spiderman backpack full of pencils, crayons, and paper so that he can walk with confidence into his first day of school!

Making slime for growth mindset. Learning how the neurone grow and can change with time. The practical lesson helps the lesson stick in difficult moments.

I am working with teachers here on social and emotional skills. Here we outlined our bodies to learn about how feelings are felt in the body, it was a fun experience as the adults not only got to draw and colour, but also discussion about self-regulation and how that is the base for healthy relationships.

I never have to do this job alone. In every place that I counsel or teach, there are amazing South Africans working to build their community. These three women work hard at Trinity Children’s Centre to support the children and families.

On a personal note, many saw on our social media that Venesch lost is father. He had been ill and ready to meet the Lord, but it’s hard to heal from this. We miss his stubborn nature and the prayers he said over us. This photo was from last year when Venesch and his dad were arguing about theology (their favorite pastime). You can see the movement in bothof their bodies as they each insist they are right!

Love from South Africa,

Autumn & Venesch