As many sectors in the South African economy begin to return to pre-COVID-19 levels, one that will not be bouncing back soon is the Early Childhood Development (ECD) sector – the crèches, playgroups and pre-schools which collectively play a key role in children’s critical first five years, yet are without funds and regulatory approvals to reopen post the lockdown.
As a survey by Ilifa Labantwana and others found, this places the future of over 1.8 million young children in jeopardy–unless swift action is taken to get early childhood development back on track. While the country awaits the outcome of last week’s court appeal to avert a complete collapse of the sector , the DO MORE FOUNDATION is calling on ordinary people to help it do more for the young children whose futures hang in the balance.
According to the second wave of the National Income Dynamics Study – Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (NIDS-CRAM) released two weeks ago, 68% of ECD centres were still closed in August, and only 13% of children aged 0-6 were attending ECD programmes – down from 47% in 2018. For young children in impoverished communities, a lack of access to ECD services deprives them of essential learning opportunities but also the only daily meal that some of them receive during the week. This raises their chances of developing malnutrition, including stunting which already affects 27% of under-fives and has major long-term consequences for their learning, health and economic future.
Realising the impact that the lockdown would have on this vulnerable group, the DO MORE FOUNDATION immediately initiated a collaborative relief effort which to date has provided 7.4 million meals to young children and their families nationwide, as well as making free online support materials available to caregivers to help learning to continue at home. It has also leveraged its partnerships to provide sanitising materials that have helped 115 ECD centres to reopen safely so far.
“In the face of such a dire situation it is easy to feel overwhelmed and wonder what difference you can make. But we are in a war for our children’s future and every little bit more we do counts. That little ‘more’ can be as simple as a bar of soap for an ECD centrenear you, or a R20 monthly donation which can provide a child with 20 nutritious mealsto help him/her learn and grow,” says Warren Farrer, trustee and executive of the Durban-based DO MORE FOUNDATION.
Farrer is referring to the Foundation’s newly-launched DO MORE Porridge, a sorghum-based porridge that is being produced for donation purposes by its founder and partner RCL FOODS. A key asset in the Foundation’s long-term ECD strategy, the porridge was first distributed by Kingsley Holgate in remote parts of KwaZulu-Natal, and is now reaching vulnerable communities along the country’s periphery as part of Holgate’s 70-day Mzansi Edge expedition.
“At a cost of just R1 a meal, the porridge is the ideal vehicle to ‘do more’ for young
Group Agenda. Children who have been most affected by the lockdown, whether through their parents
losing their incomes, their ECD centres not reopening, or both. We have to act now to secure their future which ultimately impacts the entire future of our country,” says Farrer.
To do this, the Foundation is joining forces with ordinary South Africans through its
#2020 Challenge – whose goal is to raise enough monthly donations of R20 to feed 20
000 children every school day for 20 months.
The #2020 Challenge was chosen as the most appropriate way to commemorate the United Nations’ World Food Day on Friday 16 October.
For the DO MORE FOUNDATION and RCL FOODS, this year’s World Food Day theme of “Grow, Nourish, Sustain.Together”couldn’t be more appropriate in a year of heightened global hunger and food insecurity.
“Creating decent nutrition for young children is vital if we want to grow, nourish and sustain our future. It’s a responsibility we all share, and a need we can all help address in some way. Supporting the wider provision of our DO MORE Porridge is a wonderful opportunity for South Africans to help positively impact early childhood development inour most vulnerable communities,”
Farrer concludes.
