Emergency response may save Amanzimtoti ECDs
Participants were teaching each other how best to grow food.
In June community development practitioner, Iris Canham helped secure a small grant from UK AID, Gender Links and Women With Voices to mitigate the effect of Covid-19 on women. Her approach was to partner with Kingsburgh Child and Family Welfare, Indwe Learning Centres, St Mary’s Anglican Church and 11 rural and peri-urban ECD centres around Toti to run workshops on nutrition, food security and indigenous nutrition.
“In August when I was conducting monitoring and evaluation to establish the effectiveness of the workshop, I was so excited to see how people had started growing seedlings for each other. They were swapping seedlings as each participant received a variety of seed packs.
Every one of the 40 participants also received moringa to grow as a response to climate smart gardening. Since everything from leaves to bark can be consumed from the moringa tree, it is highly nutritious. Participants were teaching each other how best to grow food. It was just incredible to see. I was impressed by a particular woman who had started to harvest her spinach and was selling it to generate an income. This inspired me to put phase two into motion,” said Iris.
Phase two of the project began in September, where a smaller group has been selected to expand their gardens. It begins with a two-day workshop on the sustainability of ECD centres and how to incorporate agribusiness into preschools to generate an income. The group also participates in a planting session and are given time to prepare their own project plans. Funds are raised via a crowdfunding platform to give each ECD a small donation to purchase more seedlings or erect a fence to start their project.
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It has been reported that nationwide 150 000 ECD educators stand the risk of losing their jobs due to the pandemic. This would be catastrophic for education in the country if the preschools cannot keep their doors open. This is just a small way to keep hope alive.
“The project is in its pilot phase. I am confident we will be able to scale it to reach the 11 ECD centres that were part of the initial phase and go beyond to impact more ECDs. Our practical application and gardening workshops are held at the community nursery, Roseville in Lower Illovo that also began during lockdown. It is an inspiring example of the possibilities that exist around us.”
To support this project, visit www.backabuddy.co.za/iris-canham. Donations of goods are most welcome: Two-litre bottles for irrigation, gum poles, fencing, rope, garden tools, mulch, seeds, seedlings compost, plastic bags, plastic chairs and gloves (adults and children). For more information, email iris@iriscanham.com.
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