Imara Minds

Learn more about Imara Minds, a safe and creative space where children, parents and caregivers come together to heal, connect and grow stronger, one artwork, one story, one heart at a time.

Building Resilient Minds, Together

An Afrikala Art Therapy Programme for Children, Parents and Caregivers. A journey of learning, unlearning, relearning and healing.

What is Imara Minds?

In a world that is often overwhelming, filled with pressure, grief, disconnection and constant change, our mental wellbeing is under strain. Now more than ever, children and their caregivers need nurturing, not just instructions. They need spaces of healing, not just survival. And they need a collective approach to resilience, not just individual coping.

Imara Minds is Afrikala Art’s response to this need.

The word Imara, meaning “strong” or “resilient” in Swahili, represents our commitment to stability, growth and inner strength. Paired with “Minds”, it reflects our focus on supporting the inner well-being of both young people and the adults who shape their worlds; parents, guardians and caregivers.

But strength doesn’t exist in isolation and neither do we.

Imara Minds is not a one-way intervention. It is grounded in Ubuntu, the deeply African philosophy that says, “I am because we are.” It affirms that well-being is a collective responsibility. We cannot build the resilience of children and youth only to return them to fractured homes, communities or unsupported caregivers. We must build strong minds together: in homes, in schools and in our communities. Our children need strong, supported caregivers just as much as caregivers need tools, healing and community.

And today, our families are beautifully diverse. Across Kenya and the world, homes look different from what they did a generation ago. Single-parent households, divorced families, orphaned sibling-led families, grandparent-headed households and extended family units are common, especially across Africa, where community and kinship are woven deeply into our ways of life.

There is no one-size-fits-all family. And that is not a weakness, it is our collective wisdom. Within this diversity lies strength, empathy and lived experience that can be shared and celebrated.

What matters most is not who makes up a family, but how we support each other within it. At Imara Minds, we honour all family structures. We believe that every child and every caregiver deserves to be seen, heard and supported. And we believe that when children and adults create, reflect and heal together, we can build not just stronger individuals, but kinder homes and more connected communities.

The Need: What Our Children and Caregivers Are Facing

Across Kenya and similar contexts, children and youth face complex, overlapping challenges that affect their mental health and emotional safety:

Academic Pressure and Performance Anxiety – Many students feel overwhelmed by the burden of school performance, often without safe outlets for stress.
Bullying and Peer Conflict – From physical bullying to online shaming, many students suffer in silence, with limited emotional support.
Low Self-Esteem and Identity Struggles – Especially among adolescents, identity confusion and low confidence often lead to isolation or acting out.
Family and Home-Related Stress – Caregiver conflict, loss, financial struggles or trauma at home deeply impact a child’s emotional stability.
Emotional Suppression – Stigma around mental health and limited emotional vocabulary leave many students bottling up sadness, fear or anger.
Grief, Loss and Trauma – Students carry the weight of loss; parents, siblings, displacement, violence and are rarely given space to process it.
Lack of Safe, Non-Judgmental Spaces – Many schools are discipline- and results-oriented, offering little space for healing, emotional expression or creativity.

But these challenges do not stop with the children. Many caregivers, parents and guardians are also grappling with:

Their own unresolved trauma or mental health challenges
Lack of tools to support their children emotionally
Financial and emotional burdens that erode well-being
Cultural taboos and silence around emotional vulnerability

Our Solution: Art Therapy Rooted in Collective Healing

Imara Minds offers a creative, trauma-informed and intergenerational approach to mental wellbeing. At its heart is art and game therapy, used not just as a creative outlet but as a tool for healing, reflection and dialogue.

By integrating age-appropriate, participatory art-based methods with the wisdom of the community, our programme supports students and caregivers to process emotions, rebuild trust, strengthen resilience and promote empathy.

Some worksheets with the title 'My voice matters'

Programme Pillars

FOR

STUDENTS

Creative Expression for Emotional Release

Trauma-Informed Art Therapy Sessions

Emotional Literacy & Resilience-Building

Identity, Confidence & Peer Connection

FOR PARENTS & CAREGIVERS

Practical Emotional Support Tools

Safe Support Circles for Caregivers

Healing Conversations and Storytelling

Coping Tools

for Stress,

Grief & Loss

SHARED/FAMILY SPACES

Intergenerational Art

Circles

Mural and Memory Box Collaborations

Hard & Safe Conversations Card Game

Shared Healthy Mind Vision

Board

Activities for Children and Caregivers

CHILDREN & ADOLESCENTS

Draw/

Colour-Your-Emotions

Self-Portrait Collage & Storytelling

Colour-

Your-Week Journaling

Group Clay

Work on

Safe Spaces

PARENTS & CAREGIVERS

Guided Breathing, Art therapy and Reflection

Memory Box for Personal Resilience

Parenting Resilience Workshops

Emotional

First Aid

Toolkit

JOINT

SESSIONS

Art

Therapy

Circles

Community

Mural

of Hope

Hard & Safe Conversations Card Game

Healthy Mind Home Vision Board

Expected Outcomes

For students:

Improved emotional literacy, confidence and peer relationships
Reduced anxiety, aggression or withdrawal behaviours
Strengthened sense of identity and belonging
Increased resilience in the face of stress and trauma

For caregivers:

Greater awareness of mental health and emotional well-being.
Improved communication with children and young people
Stronger caregiver-child relationships built on empathy
Practical tools to support personal and emotional resilience at home

For communities and schools:

Safer, more nurturing school environments
Reduced stigma around emotional vulnerability and mental health
A ripple effect of healing, from children to homes to communities

Where Imara Minds Can Be Implemented

Imara Minds is adaptable for different settings and age groups. It can be implemented in:

Primary and Secondary Schools
Community Centres and Safe Spaces
Faith-Based Institutions
Youth Hubs and Rescue Centres
Shelters, Prisons and Parenting Support Programmes
Early Childhood Development (ECD) Institutions

A strong home and a strong community are where strong minds are built

Imara Minds invites us to rebuild the bridges between learning and healing, between generations and between art and emotional wellbeing. By creating spaces where students and caregivers can be seen, heard and healed, we are not just painting pictures. We are painting new possibilities.

Let’s co-create resilient futures

If you believe in nurturing emotional wellbeing through creativity and compassion, we’d love to collaborate with you. Together, we can build stronger minds, stronger homes and stronger communities. Contact us to explore partnerships, facilitation training or programme rollout in your region.

Thank you for your interest in Imara Minds, Afrikala Art’s creative wellbeing programme for children and caregivers.

Whether you’re an individual, school, a parent group, a CBO or a community space looking to host or learn more, we’d love to hear from you.

Imara Minds Registration