After School Programme
Children that attend the After School Programme have been jointly identified by the school and youth workers as whanau needing extra support. We provide a safe space, engage in constructive activities, and role model what it means to be respectful members of community. We also encourage the tamariki who attend to see their own potential.
I have been asked to write a short summary of why I absolutely adore the LaVida Youth Trust’s after school programme. Which is easy. Overwhelmingly easy. So easy that it’s actually difficult because I don’t even know where to start.
The La Vida after school programme is an incredible place. The perfect mix of warm and nurturing, fun, chill, educational and uplifting. I asked my daughter what her favourite thing about La Vida is and she told me:
"They are kind, they teach us how to be good and responsible and they are never naughty. AND they are really fun."
I am so immensely grateful for the La Vida Afterschool Programme because I know that my daughter is getting so much love, care and friendship after school while I do my last couple of hours of mahi. Evie and her team all have such a wonderful relationship with the kids, they are fun, they play fun games and above all - they care for and mentor the children in a way that empowers and inspires them.
One of my favourite activities that Evie’s team has run with the kids is the words of affirmation they taught the kids to speak in sign language. My daughter proudly recites them to me, teaching me all the signs for each word as she tells me how she knows she is clever and brave and beautiful and loved. She said to me once “they’re not just words Mum, they’re true”.
I am also so appreciative of the male youth leaders on the team, especially as my daughter comes from a single parent home. I enjoy seeing the games they play, the rough and tumble and the respect and kindness that they role model. They are always so patient and caring, and my daughter hugely benefits from seeing the way they are same/same but different to the women in her life.
Evie’s team know and value my daughter as a whole person, and I know she feels celebrated in their after-school care space. They are so amazing at knowing when she’s having a rough day - giving her a cuddle if she has a wee scrape, and in nurturing her when she needs a little awhi. It’s so reassuring, as a Mum, to know that my daughter feels safe and loved and I don’t need to stress about how to manage after school childcare alongside being the sole breadwinner for our whānau.
Financially, life in a one breadwinner family, can be quite tight. Especially at the moment, with food and petrol prices climbing every time I happen to glance their way. I am so thankful to La Vida for allowing my daughter to attend with just an optional donation. There is no way I would be able to afford the fees that other OSCAR programs charge for each afternoon session. Before I heard about their program, I was imagining long afternoons of my daughter having to hang around my office on a device, or sitting quietly to the side in meetings. I am so grateful that she is able to attend a programme where she can be with her friends, play games, run around and continue working on building her interpersonal skills.
I hope the team at La Vida know how thankful I am and how blessed I feel to have them as a part of our village. I hope they know how much I admire them, how much I appreciate them and how lucky I feel to have them as mentors to my daughter. I think they are truly incredible.
-PARENT
