The Budding “Budding Buddy System”

Budding Buddy System

For the Fall 2020 course Child and Adolescent Global Mental Health taught by Dr. Miriam Steele, TA’d by Zishan Jiwani, and supported by Jane West, our group created programming for the young “learners” of Seven Passes Initiative, South Africa (ZA). The programme is called “Budding Buddy System” and is a customizable curriculum based on multiple ~two-hour after school sessions; each session built around a particular social-emotional goal. Within the group setting, buddy-pairs meet each time to check-in and grow safe bonds.. Buddy pairs can be assigned based on mentorship (i.e. big buddy, little buddy), by same-age and neighborhood (e.g., to have a safe walking buddy to and from programming), or in other creative configurations based on the needs of the community. Sessions include drama therapy, expressive arts, and mindfulness-based activities.

Updates April 2021

Our New School team (Hannah and Alex) have continued to partner with Wilmi and Natalie of Seven Passes. We’ve had two Zoom meetings so far this semester and communicate regularly via email. Our next meeting will be mid-April.

Project Elements: We have established a clear path forward on the various aspects of this

project. There are now three interrelated but independent elements to our

partnership with Seven Passes:

1 Budding Buddy System (BBS) for learners (Lead: Alex, supported by Hannah, Wilmi, Natalie, + local practitioners)

2Training staff in BBS (Lead: collab by Hannah, Wilmi, + local practitioners)

3Research on experiences of compassion fatigue, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress among youth lay counselors in ZA (Lead: Hannah, in collaboration with her colleague in the Center for Attachment Research, Xiqiao)

1. BBS Updates

• Deliverables: Hannah did a major revision of the deliverables, editing and refining the 40+ page BBS manual. It is now ready for translating and nearly so copyrighting and distribution. Wilmi is interested in sharing these materials with other organizations within her network. Hannah is in contact with others (nonprofits and youth workers) in ZA and the Middle East who are interested in bringing the BBS to life in their respective settings.
• Prototypes: We are developing programming prototypes for half of the social-emotional themes in the manual (10 out of the 20). The other half will be developed by Seven Passes staff. We aim to complete our share by June 15, 2021.
• Art: Alex has created a letter for circulation at Seven Passes which includes social-emotional strength-based prompts to share with children, inviting them to create art which will fill the pages of the BBS manual. Alex also shared with Seven Passes a letter to be sent to local artists, requesting their participation in this endeavour.
• Budget: The majority of the $500 grant fund we were generously awarded will go towards translating the BBS manual and prototypes into Afrikaans. The remaining funds (exact amount TBD) will be put towards training for staff in the BBS.
• Mentorship: We have continued to receive guidance from Jane and Zishan. Hannah and Xiqiao are looking forward to checking in with Miriam this semester to share updates, seek feedback, and clarify next steps regarding the research elements. Thank you, mentors!
• Next Steps:

— Apply for the SSPI conference in August (deadline to apply: April 16)

— Complete prototypes (June 15)

— Gain clarity/plan on copyright process

— Finish translation and determine amount of remaining grant funding

2. Training / Networking Updates

• Hannah has connected with a ZA drama therapist named Zandi who works for the organization Pact. Zandi and Hannah have met twice via Zoom, and she has connected Hannah to her colleague Calsey, who is a music therapist and the Africa Representative for the World Federation of Music Therapy.
• Introductions between Zandi and Calsey to Wilmi and team are underway, and we are all working together to consider a way to organize in-person training for staff in the BBS by local professionals.
• Zandi has also expressed interest in bringing the BBS to Pact, and both Zandi and Calsey have offered to support scaling the research project (below) beyond Seven Passes. Both are also joining the new group within the Center for Attachment Research co-facilitated by Hannah and colleague Marissa, called “Attachment + Global Issues: Research Collective” (inspired in part by Hannah’s new foray into global mental health issues and the collaboration with Seven Passes).

Next steps:

— Apply for additional grant funding for staff training (including travel, food, and labor [lodging graciously provided by Wilmi])

3. Research Updates

Hannah and Xiqiao are in the beginning stages of designing the research project.

• Projected Process:

1Gain understanding of lay counselors in ZA’s experiences of burn-out, compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress; consider links to lay counselors’ perceptions of violence, attachment concerns.

2 Develop tailored peer supervision (aka “debriefing”) intervention, possibly inspired by the BBS.

3Assess effectiveness of intervention.

• In Progress / Next steps:

— Literature review

— Invite Seven Passes staff to a roundtable info/feedback session via Zoom re: seeking their participation in research

— Specify research questions

— Determine surveys/scales, + mode of data collection

— Submit IRB (goal date to submit: June 1)

— Seek grant funding for translating research materials to Afrikaans and Xhosa

— Begin collecting data (goal start date November 1, 2021)

We are beyond thrilled to continue this partnership with Seven Passes Initiative and are very optimistic about what the future holds for the Budding Buddy System and our collaboration as a whole!