YOUTH
Young refugees and asylum seekers in South Africa are living with complex histories of pain, loss and violence as they work to build their lives. The strength they have shown to navigate extreme adversity in their pasts risks being undermined in their present as they deal with unprocessed trauma, everyday xenophobia, crime and the inefficient and corrupt processing of documentation. This renewed trauma deeply effects young people’s mental health and wellbeing, fracturing their sense of self and belonging at a critical stage of their development.
Youth Empowerment ProgrammeS
The AMP Youth Empowerment Programmes seek to support young people and build their self-esteem so they can reach out and help others. We do this through a holistic programme that includes youth support groups, leadership and peer educator training, holiday workshops (including sports and art), and after-school education support. AMPs Youth Programmes also serve as a referral pathway to the AMP Counselling Department.
AMP offers:
EVOLVE
A nine-week programme that seeks to provide psycho-education, develop life skills and improve self-esteem, emotional regulation and overall mental health to mitigate risk.
Each group consists of up to 12 adolescent refugees and asylum seekers, trained peer facilitators and a young licensed counsellor or social worker who supervises the sessions.
The group topics include storytelling, self-esteem, countering prejudice and discrimination, identity, communication, goal setting, problem solving, GBV, mental health and wellbeing.
TOGETHER2LEARN
After-school education support is offered weekly in various communities. The sessions are run by capable young tutors and are supervised by AMP staff, as well as experienced trained educators.
Tutoring happens in groups and individually, according to subject and learner needs.
Learners are joined to Whatsapp groups created by the tutors and receive ongoing study skills and mental health support, as well access to referral for AMP auxiliary services as required.
HOLIDAY PROGRAMMES THAT INCLUDE SOUTH AFRICAN YOUTH
AMP also runs Building Bridges programmes focused at building social cohesion between young asylum seekers, refugees and South African peers. We realise that many South African young people are also vulnerable, and our aim is that youth can heal together and build bridges in our communities based on shared experiences. Our holiday programmes are for twelve to nineteen year olds and include sports clinics, as well as art and drama activities.
YOUTH LEADERSHIP TRAINING
Appointed peer facilitators and tutors receive ongoing training on facilitation and presentation skills, mental health, GBV and gender sensitivity, and study skills methods. This provides opportunities to grow life and leadership skills, to give back to others and to earn an income to support studies or family.
“It is not easy to find someone who is there and willing to listen to you and who just gives you that space to talk openly without being judged. We have a safe space and then within that space we are creating friendship. Then people say I can rely on that friend from AMP because he knows my story and he can understand me. So I can trust him because he has not judged me because of who I am.” - Olivier, DRC
“When I came into AMP, I finally found people that could relate to my story. It is support, it helps you grow, I mean I can say I started finding my roots. So I grew and I started getting sunshine which is like love and support from my friends and started getting family instead of friends. What I lack outside [the group], I found it here, and I found a way of finding it outside too.” - Rosine, DRC
Building Bridges
HOLIDAY PROGRAMME
“The idea to bring different people in regard to countries, religion, race and gender helped us to evaluate ourselves and see a different perspective to the stereotypes that put people in a certain box or criteria. This has opened my mind and changed my opinion, it helped me to interact and it helped me to be me. This camp gave me hope.” - Esethu, South Africa
AMP is passionate about building bridges between people in South Africa and instilling hope despite the challenges we all face. Our new video “Coach” is a poignant story that shatters stereotypes and inspires us to make a positive difference wherever we are.
Youth-led transformative story-work
An integral part of our work with young people involves creating space for their stories. AMP does this within our support groups and we do this through arts-based practices that enable creative expression.
Creative storytelling helps young people to have control over the narratives that shape their identities and the tools to build their sense of self and pathways towards belonging. It is a process that through listening and learning aims to drive personal and collective transformation in young lives.