Partner profile: Sikunye

Who is Sikunye?

Sikunye is Common Good’s Early Life initiative that seeks to inspire, mobilise and equip the church to support parents, caregivers and families to provide nurturing care for their children in the first 1000 days of life, so that they can thrive and reach their God-given potential. We believe that the youngest of children are essential to the future flourishing of our communities and country. 

Sikunye, which means ‘we are together’ in isiXhosa, affirms the collective effort required to nurture young life and the importance of supportive relationships to achieve this.

An area of focus for you has been the first 1000 days, what is this all about and what does it mean for fathers?

The first 1000 days of life (from conception to the age of two) is a period of life where a young child experiences never-to-be-repeated brain development. Baby’s brain is therefore particularly sensitive to what he or she is experiencing. Consistently receiving enough of the right kind of care from an adult will lay good brain foundations that have a positive impact across the life course. At the same time, inconsistent and insufficient care can put a child on a life path that is marked by additional challenges. Many of the social ills we see in teenagers and adults have their roots in the first 1000 days of life.

Fathers have a crucial role in providing what a young child needs to get that good brain foundation. By adopting key behaviours in this period, fathers can have a positive impact on baby’s development – with benefits in the short, medium and long term. Some of these activities that dad does with baby increases his sense of protectiveness over the young child, and can decrease violence in the household. We want to see dads becoming more active and positive in this stage and experience a positive spiral of change as they care for their baby. This is our goal in our Fathers in the First Thousand Days training course.

You work mainly with churches, what has been one of the major challenges facing fathers in the church today? And what can be done about it.

The local church is a powerful social actor, with a range of strengths and assets that can be leveraged to impact families. As Sikunye, we work with church leaders and volunteers, equipping them to reach their community. When it comes to the topic of fatherhood, we have witnessed a deep hunger for change. Our Fathers in the First Thousand Days course equips volunteers to reach fathers as well as to speak up about father issues and opportunities in their church. 

A challenge we have found in this work is that many men have many barriers and challenges in their parenting journey. A ‘programme’ is not enough. It requires peer support and more time than many volunteers are able to provide. We are grateful for the many different resources and organisations working in this space, as we actively encourage churches to refer and build their own partnerships with others, like Heartlines.

To find out more:

WhatsApp: 063 711 3601

Email: info@sikunye.org.za

Website: https://sikunye.org.za/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sikunye.sa/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sikunye_sa/