The first umhlangano was recently hosted by the Domino Foundation and attendees had the opportunity to learn about the NPO’s mission and activities.
Twice a year, the Domino Foundation’s South Basin feeding programme holds its ‘umhlangano’ or ‘gathering’ where the programme’s leaders have a special time of interaction with the hundred or so valiant women (and some men) who own, run and teach at the 61 local early childhood development crèches that benefit from its feeding programme.
Bahle Khwela, the monitoring and evaluation team supervisor from Joint Aid Management (JAM) South Africa addressed guests at the umhlangano, which was held at Kingsway Church International in Amanzimtoti at the end of the first term.
“As an African-founded, Christian international humanitarian relief and development organisation, the foundation’s vision is to help Africa help itself through programmes which provide sustainable solutions for the organisation’s beneficiaries,” said Khwela.
He outlined the bigger picture for the crèche personnel, so that they could appreciate the critical need for them to submit timeously the seemingly bureaucratic paper work and data forms.
The foundation directly impacts the lives of more than 12,000 individuals daily, across KZN and the Western Cape. JAM has been operating in the Toti area through the foundation since 2016, feeding about 5,000 pre-schoolers a bowl of highly nutritious porridge at the start of every school day.
One 50g portion of the porridge, a blend of corn, soya and sugar, provides 75 per cent of a child’s micro-nutrient requirements. Khwela explained that the NPO depends on accurate information supplied by the crèches, so that the programme’s performance can be monitored, nutrition surveys conducted and planning done to meet the needs of the children in the local crèches.
Cheryl Dann, leader of the feeding programme in the South Basin, and Purity Ngcongo, the Toti kitchen co-ordinator, used the opportunity of having such an excellent turn-out of staff from the crèches to exhort and commend the people who are doing such sterling work in the crucial formative years of their young charges.
If you want to get involved and support the #DominoEffect, visit www.dominofoundation.org.za or follow Domino on www.facebook.com/TheDominoFoundation or on Twitter @DominoRSA. You can also contact Lisa Doyle on 031-563-9605 or email admin@domino.org.za.
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