Lalela Project

Lalela Project provides arts education to youth affected by extreme poverty, sparking creative thinking and awakening the entrepreneurial spirit.

In the Western Cape, South Africa, Lalela Project provides year-round, community-based education through the arts to children grades one through twelve in a safe space during the vulnerable after-school hours and holiday periods. We use the power of the arts to help students navigate a clear path that is often cluttered with the hazards of extreme poverty.

In 2012, we began to implement our curriculum in Northern Uganda in partnership with Hope North, and in 2013, we embarked on a collaborative partnership with the David Rattray Foundation to bring our curriculum to the children of KwaZulu Natal. In 2014, we will be launching and afterschool program for middle school students in Hunts Point in the South Bronx, NY.

Through our arts curriculum and its critical messaging component, we ignite imagination and teach children how to map and manifest their dreams and goals, launching a possibility of a different future for themselves and their communities. Research has shown that educational arts is closely linked to academic achievement, social and emotional development, and civic engagement. At Lalela Project, we engage and empower youth in creative thinking and solutions. Through the joy of the arts, children's voices and dreams can be heard, seen and realized.