Education South Africa Project #9502

Start a Preschool for 60 Children in South Africa

by Even Ground

Project Report | May 27, 2015
Early Childhood Education - Opportunity for All

By Helen Towle | Assistant Director - Thembanathi

Children at Siyabonga

Dear Friends of Thembanathi,

This past week marked the 50^th anniversary of the Head Start program in the United States, an early childhood education program created to fight the harmful effects of poverty on children’s lives. Head Start, President Obama reminded us in his public address, was “founded on the idea that every child -- no matter who they are, what they look like, or where they grow up -- deserves the chance to reach their full potential.”

On this day, President Obama took the opportunity to remind us all of the importance of early childhood education. “Supporting our children in their earliest years with high-quality care and education is one of the best investments we can make as a Nation,” he proclaimed. “During a critical period in a child's life,” President Obama went on, “Head Start sets our Nation's young people on the path to success. We know that investments in early childhood education boost graduation rates, increase earnings, and reduce violent crime. And 3- and 4-year-olds who attend high-quality preschool are less likely to repeat a grade, less likely to need special education, and more likely to graduate from high school. This head start in life leaves a lasting impact on our students and fuels their curiosity, helping them to grow up with a passion for learning, a fair shot at good-paying jobs, and a more secure future.”

The critical need for and positive impacts of early childhood education and care are universal. A growing body of evidence from countries around the world shows that appropriate investment in early childhood development can have a positive effect on national health, education, and socio-economic outcomes, especially in less developed countries. A strong foundation in early childhood lays the groundwork for responsible citizenship, economic prosperity, healthy communities, and successful parenting of the next generation. This is why organizations such as UNICEF, UNESCO, and The World Bank have emphasized its importance.

Children who acquire learning deficits in their early years fail to catch up during formal schooling. Rather, these deficits continue to grow over time until they become insurmountable. Reports on educational achievement in South Africa demonstrate that far too many of school-going children are performing below minimal standards, often failing to acquire functional numeracy and literacy skills. Research shows that children who participate in quality early childhood development programs, by contrast, are more ready to learn when they begin school and are less likely to repeat grades or drop out of school.

While the need for quality early childhood education is clearly recognized in South Africa, as it is in the United States, many areas of the country--especially the more rural, impoverished regions--struggle to provide these programs. That is why we at Thembanathi have dedicated ourselves to supporting and helping to build early childhood programs in northern KwaZulu Natal. As many of you know, we began working with Holy Cross in 2003, helping them to expand their early childhood program from an informal care center in a one-car garage to a center of excellence able to accommodate 120 children in need. In addition, we have supported their expansion into the more remote areas surrounding the main center through the construction of four satellite centers. Over the last few years, we’ve also helped open a new center of learning in another area, and hope to continue to grow our support programs to offer assistance to even more children in need.

While we know you all understand and support early childhood education, we want to take this moment--the anniversary of a program that has transformed the lives of many young people in America--to reflect on the importance of early childhood education and care for all children in need and to recommit ourselves to doing our part to ensure that children faced with historical and economic disadvantages are given the head start they need to allow them the chance for a bright future. We hope that you will do the same.

Thank you.

Children at Siyabonga Enjoying Breakfast

Lindsey, Thembanathi Director, Visits Siyabonga

Thanks for Your Commitment to Siyabonga

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Mar 16, 2015
New Center Starts Its Second Year

By Helen Towle | Assistant Director - Thembanathi

Banele

Dear Friends,

As you know, Thembanathi has been working for more than ten years to strengthen systems of education and care for young people and families in rural South Africa by supporting community-based early childhood education and care programs. In early 2011, we helped a group of community leaders in rural KwaZulu-Natal to establish a new early childhood development center in an area that was desperately lacking in much-needed early childhood education and care programs. The new program is called Siyabonga, which means 'we thank you' in Zulu. Since it was founded in 2011, Siyabonga has grown from 24 children in a tiny house (converted into a temporary center) to our current class of 66 children in our lovely new building, which was constructed with support from many of you.

Over the last year, word about the services and the wonderful new building has spread in the area. One single parent, for example, told us that she has brought her daughter to live with her grandparents so she can attend the center, as there were no educational programs for young children where she'd been staying before. Faced with extreme poverty and high rates of HIV/AIDS, safe and secure places for young children to learn and grow are essential. All of the guardians we've talked to say that they are excited to bring their children to our center because of the well-trained and caring staff, the safety and security it offers, and the quality of the facilities and equipment, incomporable in the area. The mother of one of our new two-year-olds told us: "I am very proud of the school my son attends. I like the high quality education and that everything about Siyabonga is up-to-date. Banele comes home everyday with something new he's learned. He also is very well fed." After only a year of operation in the new center, we've already exceeded capacity in the new classrooms and have had to create a waiting list. With additional donor funds, we hope to be able to open a new classroom soon to accommodate this expanding need.

As we've told you before, the vision for the new building is to do more than just increase numbers. Our aim is to use the new center as a site for the development of a more holistic, comprehensive, and integrated model of support that will better serve children and their families in these communities. While we currently offer vital early childhood education and care programs that lay essential foundations for young people’s educational success, it is also critical that support for these disadvantaged young people continue into their primary and secondary school years. Even with the head start of an early childhood program, children can struggle to overcome the obstacles of the poor quality educational system and the other impacts of chronic poverty, and thus need ongoing support. This is why we are currently working on plans to expand our services to include other programming that will continue to support our young children as they grow. We hope to have some exciting updates for you on these new developments soon.

We hope we can count on your continued support to not only ensure the needs of our current program are met but also to enable us to keep expanding our programs to serve even more young people and families in need.

Best wishes!

The Thembanathi Team

Aminathi

Sbongakonke

Playtime in one of our new classrooms

Links:

Our project website

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Oct 13, 2014
Siyabonga Early Childhood Center Hosts US Visitors

By Helen Towle | Assistant Project Director

Even Ground's New Executive Director at Siyabonga

Dear Friends,

On September 22, Siyabonga Early Childhood Education Center had a special group of visitors from the United States, including two Board Members from Even Ground and Even Ground’s new Executive Director. The children were surprised to see them and quite shy at first. However, once the group volunteered to help the students with an art activity they were doing, the children quickly warmed up to them. The teachers also enjoyed meeting and working with the visitors and told the Director of the Center they wished the day would never end. The Director reported that they all felt that the visitors were humble, down-to-earth people who truly cared about the children and the work they are doing at the Center. She was glad that they were so interested to learn about the challenges their community faces and the needs of the Center. The day ended with the visitors giving the children some toys they had brought and, in return, the children performed a traditional Zulu dance for them - a rhythmic dance where they kick their legs high and then bring them down with a thump.

Even Ground’s Executive Director reported that he and the Board Members were most impressed with the quality of the teaching and with the Director’s engagement with the students. The children are alert, active, and well behaved, he said, a good indicator of the success of the program. They were pleased to learn that nearly all the parents of the children at the center are involved in the development and implementation of the program through monthly meetings where they discuss school objectives, curriculum, and nutrition. He commented that the work done there is extraordinary given the depth of challenges the area faces around lack of infrastructure, food security, HIV/AIDS, and sustainable livelihoods.

One of the immediate challenges that the center faces is the severe drought that has been plaguing the region for the past months. The municipal water supply has been dried up for many weeks, and the center’s back-up rainwater collection system is also depleted due to the lack of rain. The lack of water has made even basic activities like cooking and hand washing a huge challenge for center staff, and has also delayed the completion of the landscaping and outdoor play area. The Board members recognized that addressing the Center’s water needs is a priority, as is finding a way to provide ongoing funding.

After seeing the program first-hand, our Board members are more motivated than ever to raise more funds to increase the number of children served, to improve the curriculum, to hire more staff, and to help solve challenges like the current water crisis. But we need your help to do so.

As we begin our annual fall campaign to raise the funds necessary to keep offering essential services to young children and to grow our programs to help more young people in need, we want to reach out to all of you to thank you for your support and to ask for your continued assistance. If you are considering helping us out again this season, we wanted to let you know that this coming Wednesday, October 15, at 9:00 am EDT / 6:00 am PDT, Global Giving will be giving a 30% match on your donations. Check out our program page for more information.

All the best,

Helen and the staff of Siyabonga

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