Sinani, which has been one of medico’s project partners for many years, grew out of a group of committed psychologists who provide therapeutic support to prisoners and torture victims of the apartheid regime.
SINANI’s work in marginalised, excluded and violence-ridden communities in KwaZulu Natal is driven by the conviction that help for transformation processes must cover all needs and be organised on a holistic basis. Since 1995 SINANI has been working in around 20 communities prone to systemic violence where political, social and domestic violence are closely intertwined.
These communities are also dominated by extreme poverty and high HIV infection rates. SINANI’s work combines empowering individuals by restoring relationships and connections within the communities and with government institutions.
The aim is to increase the self-empowerment of political and social actors in communities through training and developing social and economic programmes, to promote conflict resolution in an attempts to transform the causes of poverty and violence in a constructive way.
SINANI’s success over many years in providing assistance to communities designed around their needs is reflected in the fact that SINANI is now being requested by government agencies to provide professional training and compile a curriculum for training community workers who will work in areas of extreme poverty and violence.