Affirmation cards aimed at promoting healthy minds and inclusion amongst African children
Building self-esteem through positive representation and self-belief is an important part of raising healthy children. Representation is empowering and allows children to develop a sense of belonging and inclusion. To play a key role in the transformation and development of self-esteem, confidence and a positive mindset in children, Fix Scholarship and Diketo Inclusive Education have collaborated to create one of Africa’s first inclusive affirmation cards for the African child, titled “Affirmations for the African Child”.
Founder of the Fix Scholarship, Fikile Moeti and mother of a 4-year-old boy who inspired these cards, believes that the way children speak about themselves and the way they are spoken to becomes the blueprint for how they view themselves and what they do in life. “I have always believed in the theory of Conscious Parenting which has a lot to do with our inner child as parents that we project onto our kids, therefore the intention of these cards is just to pause for a moment, engage with your little ones, listen to them and validate their affirmations”.
Founder of Diketo Inclusive Education, a social enterprise that focuses on developing inclusive environments for all children, Basheera Surty says the affirmation cards are designed for children to learn and develop positive ways of seeing and talking to themselves. “The cards are a tool that children and their families can use to positively build the way children see themselves, accept themselves and love themselves”.
The African Affirmation cards were illustrated by 13-year-old, Madeeha Kadir, who says the project taught her that everyone is perfect in their own way. “This was a fun project for me because I enjoy drawing. I have always been interested in affirmations. Being able to translate affirmations into drawings has taught me different techniques and made me aware of the different expressions and characteristics of children.”
“Children’s expression and representation was a key element in creating these affirmation cards. The images were drawn by a child and give the cards a more authentic child-feel to them,” adds Surty.
With inclusion at the forefront of this collaboration, the Affirmations for the African Child will initially be developed in English and Braille. Thereafter, they will be produced in Zulu, Afrikaans, Xhosa, Tswana, Sign Language, Venda and Pedi. Each set will consist of 30 cards that represent the diversity of children across the African continent and children who are differently-abled.
The launch of Affirmations for the African Child coincides with Human Rights month in South Africa. “We hope to remove barriers to create an inclusive and accessible society for all and there is nothing that would have a more positive impact in this world than a child who grows up empowered, resilient and with positive self-belief,” concludes Moeti.
Follow the African affirmations story through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram or visit, africanaffirmations.org for more information.
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About The Fix Scholarship
Founded by Fikile Moeti, The Fix Scholarship is a non-profit organisation that offers female social entrepreneurs, who pursue entrepreneurial solutions for urgent social development challenges, the opportunity to complete the Gordon Institute of Business Sciences (GIBS) Social Entrepreneurship course. The course is aimed at assisting them to make impactful social and economic change within their communities as well as an opportunity to be awarded capital to maintain or start-up their business.
About Diketo Inclusive Education
Diketo Inclusive Education was founded in 2015 with the vision of improving access to early learning education and play for ALL children. We believe that every child deserves the opportunity and support to develop and reach their full potential. Founded by Basheera Surty, Diketo Inclusive Education is a social enterprise that supports and trains early childhood development (ECD) practitioners and primary school teachers on how to build inclusive education through play and learning for all children. This occurs through practitioner/teacher training and workshops as well as on-site therapeutic support.