What We Do
Lullaby Africa is the Only UK charity dedicated to supporting people in Africa to form attachment to their babies and toddlers.
A healthy bond between parents or carers and their babies is vital to health and well-being. Lullaby Africa initiates these crucial attachments and supports the development of inter-generational relationships.
Mothers, fathers, grandparents, older siblings, aunts, uncles and the extended ‘village’ family all have a role to play in this process. Lullaby Africa provides the tools they need to support one another.
We Do This by:
Sending trainers from the UK to help establish groups.
Training and equipping local leaders to carry on the work, with regular supervision from the charity.
Supplying teaching films and educational materials to partner charities, churches and other organisations in Africa.
All this is based in sound neuroscience.
Deliver baby bonding workshops
We have developed a culturally-sensitive method to create loving and intimate interactions between carers and very young children using their own songs. At first, we establish personal relationships in new communities, then train local group leaders to carry on the work under our supervision.
Our work is evidence-based. We measure maternal sensitivity before and after the workshops using Debi Maskell-Graham’s ‘Tell me about your baby’ approach. This incorporates video of participants when this is possible.
Developing long-term relationships with the communities will help us track the impact on children as they grow.
Empower women
We see many mothers empowered when we share the knowledge we are privileged to have been given. They become more sensitive but also more confident parents. Many share what they have learnt with their husbands, partners, friends and relatives. This boosts their standing in the community.
Changing a community takes time. We need to revisit groups to embed the message. These are fragile communities, so our consistency of approach is vital.
Resource charities
We supply baby bonding educational materials to charities already working with children and families across Africa.
Where we work
Lullaby Africa goes where we are invited.
We started in Kisumu, the third largest city in Kenya, in 2010. Kisumu has a population around 400,000 and borders Lake Victoria.
Now, we support communities in:
Kisoro, a city in south west Uganda
Muhabura diocese, rural communities in south west Uganda
The Kalerwe area in Kampala, Uganda’s capital
Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city
Kisumu, Kenya’s third city
Nanyuki, Kenya (with The Leo Project)
Rusinga, western Kenya (with Seed Sowing Network)
Somalia (with Happy Hearts)
Demand for our services is huge. We have already been invited to take Lullaby Africa into:
the DRC – possibly 3,600,000 babies born each year
Zimbabwe – over 430,000 babies born each year
Rwanda – nearly 400,000 babies born each year
More locations in Kenya – around 1,500,000 babies born each year
More locations in Uganda – around 1,700,000 babies born each year
With your help we can meet this need.