TeamUp: How play-based support in school helps children heal across Africa

For children growing up in war, violence or displacement—like the 67,000 displaced children in Rwanda—school is more than just a place for learning. It's safety. School protects children from child labor, exploitation and other forms of abuse.  

And for children who have experienced trauma, including conflict, displacement, abuse or hunger, school can be something even more powerful: a place where healing begins. 

With trusted teachers, predictable routines, and a sense of belonging, school is one of the most powerful and healing Positive Childhood Experiences a child can have.  

That's why SOS Children's Villages implements life-changing programs like TeamUp in schools—so that children in Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia and beyond have everything they need to heal, learn and thrive—no matter the state of the world around them. 

What is TeamUp, and how does it help children in school? 

Children suffer the most in emergencies. Without tailored support, the trauma a child experiences can damage their development, threaten their future and deepen cycles of poverty that span generations.  

But at SOS Children's Villages, we know children are not defined by their trauma. With loving relationships and therapeutic support—like TeamUp—children can heal and build resilient, bright futures beyond their traumatic experiences.   

Building on the protective power of school, TeamUp is a psychosocial intervention that uses structured play, sports and movement. It helps children affected by conflict, violence and displacement to: 

• Relieve stress and tension. Through physical movement, children learn to emotionally regulate in the moment and renew a sense of security. 

• Build resilience. TeamUp directly disrupts toxic stress by providing children with the adult support they need to process their experiences—helping lower cortisol levels along the way. 

• Create protective buffers. Research shows that reliable, loving relationships and emotional connection act as a first line of defense against toxic stress. 

Are you an educator searching for ways to help children who’ve experienced trauma feel safe in your classroom? This resource might be for you.  

TeamUp in action: Stories of healing across Africa 

Across East Africa, ongoing conflict, displacement and natural disasters, like drought, are putting children's safety, development and futures at risk. But TeamUp is helping communities respond, delivering the targeted support children need to heal and thrive. 

Rwanda: When play opens the door to trust 

Rwanda has become a refuge for more than 67,000 children fleeing crisis.  

The country hosts tens of thousands of Burundian refugees, more than half of them children, alongside tens of thousands more who have fled escalating violence and a deadly Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Many arrive having witnessed or experienced violence firsthand, separated from family, and grieving loved ones or a home they may never see again. 

For children across Rwanda, a TeamUp session can be the first place they feel safe enough to speak. 

During one session, a child who had been struggling opened up to their teacher—sharing a difficult situation at home. With TeamUp’s sustainable and local model, educators can collaborate with local child protection systems and community centers to ensure children receive the holistic support they need to heal.  

"We visited the family, discussed the situation and worked together to find support," the teacher recalled. "Today, that child is happy again." 

Learn more about how you can support a child who has witnessed violence.  

Tanzania: Healing amid instability 

In Tanzania, more than 2.5 million children are growing up without parental care, leaving them unprotected from extreme violence and exploitation.  

Tanzania is also home to more than 230,000 refugees—many of them children who have fled violence with little more than what they could carry. For a child navigating that level of instability, there is often no routine, no predictable adult and no safe place to simply be a kid. 

TeamUp changes that—delivering the child-friendly spaces children need to play and process their experiences alongside trusted, trauma-informed trained adults.   

Read more about the importance of child-friendly spaces.  

This work is also about strengthening child protection where it's needed most. Through TeamUp, SOS Children's Villages is working to reach 450 children in Tanzania, equipping teachers and caregivers to recognize the signs of trauma early and connect children with the support systems that keep them safe. 

Ethiopia: Training teachers in TeamUp 

In Ethiopia, more than 15 million people are experiencing acute food insecurity.  

More than 1.8 million children are already suffering from life-threatening malnutrition as protracted conflict and drought compound the burden on families who depend on agriculture to survive. For children living through both crises at once, the toll isn't just physical—it's emotional, too, as prolonged instability wears away at the sense of safety and routine every child needs.  

That's why children in conflict-affected communities need more than food and shelter. They need trusted adults who can help them process what they've lived through, and a consistent space where they're allowed to simply be children again. 

TeamUp equips trauma-informed trained teachers across Ethiopia to help more than 400 children reduce stress and promote positive experiences that foster healing, so they can build brighter futures after conflict and drought.  

A safe space to heal 

A child who feels safe, a classroom that becomes a refuge, a teacher trained to notice, to listen and to act—these are the moments safe educational spaces and trauma-informed care make possible. 

TeamUp reminds us that when children are given the right support—even amid conflict, displacement or crisis—they can do more than survive. They can thrive.  

Help more children learn and heal in school with your gift today.