A question from her daughters about children living on the streets forced social worker Athalia Flanagan to confront a difficult question of her own.
What was she doing to help children beyond her own family?
The answer eventually led Flanagan, 41, and co-founder Anthelene Else, to establish the Thetha Nathi Counselling Services NPO in 2021, providing counselling and psychosocial support to children and families.
Flanagan, who had experience in statutory social work, counselling and supervision, said the idea began taking shape after her daughters repeatedly asked why children were sitting at the roadside.
Their questions made her think about the different circumstances in which children grow up.
“I realised that we love to give our kids a better life.
“But what are we doing for their peers? Because these are their peers,” she said.
Flanagan and Else began Thetha Nathi from a room in Flanagan’s home, which was converted into a counselling space.
At first she saw about eight children a day, sometimes more, without charging for the service.
“It was crazy. You realise how many kids actually need assistance,” she said.
The demand demonstrated the need for the organisation’s services and later helped support its funding applications.
Thetha Nathi eventually moved into a small office and secured its first school partnership with Buffalo Flats Primary School.
It has since expanded to 12 primary schools and four high schools, placing counsellors directly in schools to provide individual and group sessions, while also taking part in school activities.
“Our goal from the start was to get into the schools, where kids are directly exposed to our services,” Flanagan said.
The school-based work runs from Monday to Thursday, with counsellors seeing pupils as well as parents and siblings where necessary.
On average, a counsellor can handle about five to six clients a day, with the organisation recording roughly 25 sessions a week, depending on emergencies and scheduled appointments.
Thetha Nathi also runs programmes addressing gender-based violence (GBV) and substance abuse, visiting different schools during the week.
Its counsellors return to the office each week for debriefing and supervision, where difficult cases are discussed and additional support identified.
The organisation also assists statutory social workers with referrals, locating family members and providing additional support when required.
“Things like that can be life and death for a child,” Flanagan said.
For Flanagan, counselling is not always about sitting across a desk and asking a child to talk.
Children respond differently, and she recently enrolled in a play therapy course so she can equip her social workers with additional counselling tools.
“Sometimes with one child, you can sit one-on-one and talk to them.
“With another, you might have to sit on the floor and play a game first before they are able to speak to you,” she said.
The organisation also tries to give children practical alternatives when they are struggling with anger, stress or other difficulties.
“We collaborate with the boxing coach, and he comes in and talks about alternatives to dealing with stress, with anger and the resources that are available within the community,” Flanagan said.
These included soccer and boxing clubs, which she said many children did not know were available to them.
The challenges facing pupils can change quickly.
At different times, Thetha Nathi has had to respond to substance abuse, peer pressure, grief and bereavement.
Earlier this year, several deaths affecting children and their families meant the organisation had to place a particular focus on bereavement support.
“There’s no sitting down and just relaxing. There’s so much going on within our community every single week,” Flanagan said.
That need for continuity is also why Thetha Nathi prefers employing staff rather than relying heavily on volunteers.
“It’s very difficult to have a child come for a week and then feel better after the first session, and then they come back and it’s like, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry, but you can’t see her any more,’” she said.
The organisation has previously received funding from Lotto and has been continuously supported by Mercedes-Benz.
It has also benefited from the YES youth employment programme and support from the Health and Welfare Sector Education and Training Authority (HWSETA), including funding for a facilitators’ course.
Flanagan said Thetha Nathi had again been approved for Lotto funding and was awaiting finalisation.
The organisation is also creating opportunities for young social workers to gain practical experience.
Facilitator Nosipho Mlambo joined Thetha Nathi in February.
Mlambo initially worked as a social worker and counsellor at a school before moving to the organisation’s office.
She has since become one of the facilitators responsible for its GBV programme.
“I was doing the GBV and substance abuse programme, but today I am one of the GBV facilitators,” Mlambo said.
She said joining Thetha Nathi had given her an opportunity to gain practical experience and develop her counselling skills.
“I wanted to gain social work experience, and it gave me the opportunity to explore all the counselling skills that I need,” she said.
“Because of the programme, I am also able to address large numbers of people publicly, and I got to understand children with different behaviours as well as the causes,” she said.
She hopes Thetha Nathi will continue growing and become more visible in communities, while developing additional programmes to reach families who need intervention.
For Flanagan, the motivation remains the same as it was when her daughters first began asking questions.
She wants children in public schools to have access to support regardless of their family circumstances.
“Not everybody can afford to give our kids what my husband and I try to give our kids.
“So just have the child also getting what they deserve.”
Daily Dispatch
