A counselling initiative inspired by a mother's concern about children growing up without adequate counselling support has expanded from one school to 12 public schools in KuGompo City since it started in 2022.
Thetha Nathi, meaning “talk to us”, was established by Athalia Flanagan, who wanted to make counselling services more accessible to children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Flanagan said the idea came from conversations with her daughters, who often questioned why children were standing at traffic lights without their parents.
“They would always ask me, ‘Mommy, why are these kids standing at the robots? Why are these kids not with their parents?’” Flanagan said.
“I realised that we have given our own kids such a sheltered life, but what are we doing for the others? That's where it all started.”
The initiative provides counselling services directly in public schools, where Flanagan said pupils often had limited access to professional support.
“With my kids being in a private school, the services are readily available, but when you look at our kids in public schools, there's no service for them,” she said.
“We decided we wanted to bring it directly to the schools so that children have easy access.”
She said another aim was to challenge the stigma surrounding counselling and the perception that it was only available to families who could afford it.
Among the challenges identified through the programme are overcrowded classrooms, neglect, abuse, substance abuse and unresolved trauma.
“There's a lot of neglect, a lot of abuse, a lot of substance abuse, especially in our primary schools, which is the scariest, and a lot of trauma,” Flanagan said.
Despite the emotional demands, she said her passion for the work kept her going.
“If you don't love what you're doing, you're going to struggle,” Flanagan said.
From one school to 12, Flanagan hopes to eventually reach every public school in KuGompo City.
