The Amahlanu Initiative is a youth-led effort dedicated to fostering the holistic development of underprivileged children across South Africa. We believe every child deserves the opportunity to explore, learn, and grow in a safe and nurturing environment. By providing diverse experiences that engage all five senses, we aim to help children develop a strong sense of identity, curiosity, and resilience. Our ultimate goal is to empower children to overcome adversity and realize their full potential, creating a brighter future for themselves and their communities.

Every childhood is a story. We often take for granted that we have pictures of our days as toddlers, stories of birthday cake and first words and old paintings; we take for granted the childhood albums, the hours spent discovering and running and scraping knees, and the people in our lives who documented each step of our journey. We believe that the right to develop one’s own story– one’s childhood– through a diverse range of experiences and the right to share and remember it is fundamental for any child, regardless of where and how they grow up.

This is why we offer interactive, multisensory activities which encourage children of all ages to explore both themselves and the world around them. These activities, which cater to all five senses, are organized and led by our dedicated team of volunteers, and our visits are documented by scrapbooks of photos, drawings, and writing, recording the stories of the children we work with.