Stepping Stones International is an organisation based in Botswana. Through a holistic programme model, which combines life skills, leadership, psychosocial support and community mobilisation elements, SSI enables students and young people to heal the scars of the past and reconnect with their lost childhood, while growing into self-sufficient young adults. 

Their mission is to unlock the potential of vulnerable children and young people between 12-25 years of age through holistic development, strengthening families and activating sustainable opportunities to become self-sufficient. 

We started partnering with Stepping Stones International in 2010. Since then they have been implementing our Aflateen + programme in Botswana. Aflateen+ is a powerful educational programme for girls and boys and features life skills, financial education, entrepreneurship and sexual & reproductive health & rights. The programme is based on student-centred learning methods.

The Aflatoun methodology aligns with Stepping Stones International’s participatory model of implementation. The child-centred methodology provides practical activities that empower, engage and encourage children and young people to develop critical thinking and social and financial skills through which to contribute to their communities. 

SSI shared with us a recent success story from one of the Aflatoun clubs in Mochundi. The students there decided to join efforts and support three peers from their community whose families have been experiencing financial difficulties and hadn’t been able to provide school uniforms to their children. 

The Aflatoun students organised a school bazaar where they sold sweets, and with the money earned, bought vegetable seeds to plant in the schoolyard. Later the vegetables were sold to the community and the profit was used to purchase school uniforms for the students.

Interested in learning more about our partners? Read more in our Partner of the Week blogs.