Early Childhood Development (ECD) is one of the most powerful investments our country can make. We know that the first 5 years of a child’s life plays a pivotal role in developing potential for the rest of their life.
In the early years, the child’s body and brain grows at an astonishing pace. ‘If they don’t receive proper nutrition and stimulation, it can result in the delayed development of their bodies and minds,’ says Shadi Nyokong, social worker and programme manager of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund’s (NMCF) Child Survival, Development and Thriving Programme.
In 2022 the NMCF, supported by Nedbank, contributed funding to a well-established ECD programme called Khula Kahle Mntwana, run by The Valley Trust, a non-profit in the deep rural Valley of a Thousand Hills in KwaZulu-Natal. “The programme was established in 2013 after a study by the University of KwaZulu-Natal found that many young children in this region suffered from developmental delays,” Nyokong explains.
Khula Kahle Mntwana provides homesteads and ECD centres with food parcels and assists people to establish food gardens. Field workers trained by The Valley Trust equip parents/caregivers and ECD centre teachers with skills to stimulate the healthy growth of the minds and bodies of children under the age of 5. The programme also links households and ECDs to health and social services that focus on the needs of children and their households. And it helps unregistered ECDs to become registered and qualify for a subsidy from government.
“The NMCF’s contribution to this programme reached a total of 3302 children under the age of 5 in 11 villages. This included 2 748 children in households and 383 children in local ECD centres,’ says Tobie Badenhorst, Head of Group Sponsorships and Cause Marketing at Nedbank. ‘Before we allocate funding, the programme managers visit the area and closely assess what is needed and which organisations are best serving the communities.”
“When we visited the remote mountainous villages in the Valley of a Thousand Hills, we found that many of the households are headed by unemployed single mothers and grannies who are struggling to make ends meet,’ says Nyokong. ‘Some households have a parent working in Durban, others have lost a parent or both parents as this is a community affected by HIV/Aids.”
Many of the villagers live far away from clinics, they don’t have money for transport and they struggle to access services. “It’s such a beautiful environment but it is a very hard life for most, and many households cannot afford to send their children to the local ECD centres,” Nyokong explains. “In addition, there are households with children with special needs and the parents/caregivers don’t have the skills to appropriately attend to them.”
One of the mothers in the programme says, “Zanele our field worker would come with toys, balls, crayons and many other things that helped me to see where a child is good at certain things and not so good at others, so I could see where to improve.”
The field workers play an essential role in assisting parents/caregivers and teachers with activities and toys for stimulation. They also help to monitor the children to make sure they are achieving the developmental milestones of their age group – including being able to hold up their head, walk, recognise people, develop strong bones and muscles and hand-eye coordination. Very important to the programme is the emphasis on the need for hugging and affection from the parents/caregivers so that the children feel loved and emotionally secure from the earliest age.
The children in this programme are reflective of the wider South African situation. Research from The Valley Trust states that of the approximately 6 million children aged between birth and 4 years old, 65% live in conditions of poverty, while about 2.5 million of the 0-5 year-olds live in households where no adult is employed.
“A vast number of our children are missing out on essential early learning and development that they need to be school-ready and to be able to take advantage of opportunities later in life that can elevate them and their families out of poverty,” Nyokong concludes.
For more information about The Valley Trust:
https://thevalleytrust.org.za/child-health-and-development/
About the Nedbank Children’s Affinity:
https://www.nedbank.co.za/content/nedbank/desktop/gt/en/aboutus/affinity-programmes.html