Amanzimtoti ECD programme reaches the airwaves

Indwe Africa continues to ride a wave of success with its early childhood development (ECD) programme it implemented last year.

A year ago founder Iris Canham and her helpers were running a pre-school programme under a large tree in Lower Illovo. In February 2019, they added after-school programmes and by March were reaching over 70 children from pre-schoolers to primary school learners. Their message was very clear, that their main purpose was to impact the lives of early learners and make an impact in early childhood development in communities.

“We saw the detrimental effect and the big gap that a lack of ECD programmes and access to early learning creates. It affects literacy and overall basic education, as it is an important factor in the completion of secondary schooling. Ignoring the value of ECD will cost us as a country and it is by far the greatest investment that any country can make,” said Iris.

“We were very limited with space and facilities, so it was important for us to think out of the box to ensure that we added value to existing ECD programmes since we were unable to accommodate any more learners.”

READ ALSO: First Amanzimtoti ECD workshop a resounding success

Indwe Africa collaborated with Kingsburgh Child and Family Welfare to form a community outreach ECD programme. This entails providing capacity building, support, training and a platform for people already in ECDs to improve their programmes.

“Recognising that we needed materials to show and demonstrate learning, we joined forces with Singakwenza Education that assisted with a waste to toys programme.” A call for waste items to upcycle and make toys went out and the Toti community responded by collecting materials to donate to the organisation for them to turn into toys to aid learning.

The first workshop took place at St Mary’s Anglican Church in October and, due to its success, was followed by a second in December. The programme now reaches 10 communities and impacts over 450 children.

Bouyed by its success, Indwe Africa has taken it a step further and turned the teachings into a weekly radio programme at Christian radio station Good News FM 93.8. Together with collaborating partners Kingsburgh Child and Family Welfare, the team addresses various topics in ECD, with the main focus on sharing knowledge with caregivers and parents. “Parents are the first teachers. ECDs are not there to replace parents, so we need to work together,” said Iris.

READ ALSO: Exciting chapter begins for Illovo school

Catch the team on air on Mondays from 6pm to 6.30pm. To make any contributions to the topics discussed on air, email iris@indwe-africa.org.

DID YOU KNOW?
Click on the words highlighted in red to read more on this and related topics.
To receive news links via WhatsApp or Telegram, send an invite to 061 694 6047
The South Coast Sun is also on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest – why not join us there?

Do you have more information pertaining to this story?
Feel free to let us know by commenting on our Facebook page or you can contact our newsroom on 031 903 2341 and speak to a journalist.

To receive our free newsletter click here

(Comments posted on this issue may be used for publication in the Sun)