500+
GIRLS TRAINED IN LEADERSHIP since 2010
90+
GIRLS TRAINED IN CONSERVATION since 2020
65+
Safe Space benches created since 2010
16+
YEARS BUILDING A GIRL-LED MOVEMENT since 2010
6+
YEARS OF EVEN GROUND PARTNERSHIP since 2019
About this partner
BRAVE works with Adolescent Girls and Young Women aged 10-19. We work in the Manenberg community, Manenberg like many other communities on the Cape Flats suffers a devastating lifestyle of constant gang wars, violence and drug abuse. Our goal is to empower girls and young women to speak up for themselves and others, to lead and create safe spaces in their communities that will allow them to fight intergenerational cycles of violence and poverty.
Brave Rock Girl was founded in 2010 by a group of ten-year-old girls who wanted a safe place at their school. Since then, the organisation has grown from strength to strength, providing after school classes and camps for over 1000 girls in Manenberg from 2010 to present, installing 65 public Safe Space benches around Cape Town and the Western Cape in partnership with the arts and design community, successfully advocating for the construction of a 800-student school, writing ten children’s books about well-known South African women, and embarking on eight Road Trips across South Africa, Kenya and the US, to document and report on the conditions of girls around the country. BRAVE girls have published over 50 articles in online and print publications, produced six short films, six digital stories, numerous radio shows, and spoken at many events across South Africa, Kenya and the US. Brave Rock Girl creates opportunities for girls and collaborates with organisations and people who can provide the resources, knowledge, experience, and safety that girls need to lead.
01
Exposing the Girls to new experiences and people: Microadventures that expose the girls to outdoors, cultural history and art; Healthy Mind, Healthy Body Activities like dancing, and hosting Family and Celebratory events in the community.
02
Providing mental health support: offering counselling sessions; offering therapeutic support groups for Girls and a caregiver; running monthly Wellness Pop-up Sessions at schools for youth to meet and debrief; offering referrals and reporting cases of child abuse or gender-based violence. As well as educational workshops focused on social issues including SRHR, ending gender-based violence and discrimination; community conversations; story-telling to deepen self-knowledge and understanding; and self-regulating tools.
03
Brave started Daring Disa – Girls in Conservation Programme – in 2021. 90+ girls participated in this programme by the end of 2025. The programme exposed Girls to conservation and how it relates girls’ rights, and education on Fynbos for the girls themselves as well as youth and community members, which results in an increased appreciation of nature, conservation, Fynbos and the rights of girls.
04
Providing school supplies and school shoes; helping girls to get back to school if they dropped out; regular distribution of sanitary towels; provide toiletries for all sleepover activities with the girls; compassionate support and grocery pack to girls and their families at the passing of a family member; assist girls as they make the transition to study may include supporting them as they wait for payouts from bursaries of NSFAS and help them to find sponsors.
EvenGround contributes towards BRAVE’s Adventures, Safe Spaces, Family Events, Care Packs and provides essential support staff and BRAVE office.
A story from BRAVE
At 25, warm and determined Audery February is one of three powerful young women at the helm of the girl leadership organization Brave, located in one of the most violent communities in South Africa. Ten years ago, while on a Brave retreat, the three made a promise to each other to continue this work for other young women in their community, a commitment they've now realized through their active mentorship of more than 100 teenage girls.
Support Even Ground
Donations are made to Even Ground and help fund community-led programs like BRAVE's across South Africa. Even Ground is a US 501(c)(3); contributions are tax-deductible.
Sponsorship for a young woman to participate in BRAVE's leadership program for a year.
Give $1,000A BRAVE Adventure: a road-trip leadership retreat for a cohort of girls from one of South Africa's most violent communities.
Give $5,000
