Raising Boys to be Good Men: The Character Company
“Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value. ”
The Character Company is building communities by building character in individuals. The Character Company's goal is to help to change South Africa's current culture of violence and abuse through an initiative for boys helping them to grow into good men by instilling honorable values.
In 2013, Jaco van Schalkwyk founded The Character Company as an non-profit organization that focuses on long-term mentoring and relationship building, instilling five specific values: courage, kindness, self-discipline, honesty and respect.
The Character Company primarily works with young boys between the ages of 5 and 10 as an intake age, but the long-term mentorship approach means that they will continue to be part of their lives throughout their school career and beyond. They also work with other stakeholders that influence the children, including providing a support structure for single mothers and advocacy for the better treatment of women and children with governmental entities.
I had the opportunity to see a weekend camp hosted by The Character Company. The Character Company hosts a camp three weekends each month in Johannesburg. For Eisenhower Fellow Sbu Myeni, this was a great opportunity to spend quality time with these boys and speak into their lives while they have fun around camp fires, late night hikes and swimming in the river. Each week they discuss the five values with every boy in the program. They talk about the values, what they mean and then they look at practical ways to make it part of our lives.
“I looked at the world around me and realized: we’re dealing with the side effects of absent fathers. That’s what we need to fix. Our big focus is to get boys to grow up differently. To look at society differently – and to act.”
To support The Character Company along with me, visit https://www.thecharactercompany.co.za.
