The ECD Development Awards reward individuals and organisations within the ECD sector.
Winners were announced in four categories: practitioner of the year, home-based centre of the year, community-based centre of the year and resources and training organisation of the year.
the Teacher spoke to the winners in each category to talk about the challenges they face as well as what the awards mean to them.
Practitioner of the year
Masesi Winnie Nsimbini of Khulangelwati Pre-Day Care Centre in Mpumalanga used her life savings in 1998 to start the centre. At that stage, she was unqualified, but she worked hard to obtain a basic ECD qualification and is currently studying towards a national diploma in professional education with the University of South Africa (Unisa).
‘Most of the community members didn’t know where or who to leave their children with when they go to work. Their children were being abused and some started schooling late and without having been through a pre-school phase. So I saw a need to come up with a facility like this to give these children a sound educational foundation,” said Nsimbini.
When she started, there were only three children in her care and she did not have a decent place to operate from. She then approached the local tribal authority to donate a nearby empty building. Permission was granted, but it was not long before they kicked her out because they felt she was using it to make money.
Nsimbini then set up makeshift structures that never lasted long. Using her personal savings of R12 000 in additon to the R50 fees, Nsimbini managed to build a four-classroom structure. And the number of children in her care also shot to 165. She now has 10 helpers whom she pays from the school fees.
She said the challenge she faces is non-payment of fees as most parents are unemployed. ‘As a result, most of their children attend for free,” she said. Nsimbini said she survives by fund-raising and also networking with relevant organisations involved in the sector.
About the awards, Nsimbini said: ‘I am really grateful to the sponsors for making us people from the rural areas feel so special. It was for the first time that I slept in a hotel and flew in a plane. This has given me strength and courage to work even harder.”
Home-based centre of the year
Elizabeth Manzini founded Tintlhari Day Care Centre in Letsitele in Limpopo province in 2000 because she felt too many children were dying in her village.
While unsupervised, some were run over by cars and others drowned in a nearby river.
‘We would bury children every now and then, so I decided to come up with a centre that would keep these young ones productively engaged,” said Manzini.
But it was an uphill battle for Manzini who is also a qualified teacher. She had absolutely nothing and decided to use her own house, dedicating one room to the centre’s activities.
Because the community is impoverished, most parents struggled to pay the initial fee of R30 a month. ‘But because of my passion, love for the children and sheer determination, I soldiered on,” said Manzini.
In 2003, the number of children increased from 26 to 54 and the place became too small. Manzini had to find an alternative space. She then negotiated for a piece of vacant land where she made mud bricks to set up a bigger shelter, although she still uses her house as an operational centre.
Manzini battles financially and had to increase fees to R70 per child per month to pay for her two assistants, a cook and a gardener.
Manzini was grateful for the award: ‘I never thought the work I am doing would be recognised as valuable.”
Community-based centre of the year
Grace Mahlalela founded Ithuseng Pre-School in KwaGuqa in Witbank, Mpumalanga, in 1992 on the premises of her church. Congregants said they wanted a secure environment where they could leave their children.
Starting with 43 children, numbers increased quickly to 120. Soon the space in the church became too small.
Through persistent fund-raising initiatives Mahlalela got funding which enabled her to build a six-roomed structure. She said they only managed to erect three classrooms while the remaining three are in the process of being completed.
Mahlalela also highlighted money as her main challenge. ‘We charge R150 per child per month and this covers food, salaries, rent and telephone bills, to mention a few,” she said.
She employs seven people of which two help her to teach, two cook and there is a cleaner and a gardener. She said they find it tough to buy toys and other necessities.
Mahlalela said she finds the awards very inspiring. ‘Most of these people are driven by love and passion to help the children and they get very little material rewards in return. But with events like these, we would really feel strengthened to put in more efforts,” said Mahlalela.
Resource and training organisation of the year
Tree, a KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) organisation, works with 6 000 ECD sites in the province.
Founded 23 years ago, Tree is one of the oldest and the largest ECD outfits in the country with a staff of 64.
Its trainers are spread throughout KZN and the Eastern Cape areas focusing on empowering people who deal closely with children such as mothers, grannies as well as the community to create an environment where children can be educationally stimulated.
Pam Picken, executive director of the organisation, said they have so far trained over 20 000 practitioners whose work impacts on between 600 000 and 700 000 children in the province.
She said statistics show that 25% of children in the rural areas are stunted by malnutrition and that only 15% of these children have access to ECD. It is for this reason that Tree emphasizes a holistic approach that takes care of issues of a child’s health, care and nutrition.
She said a reason for winning the award was because ‘we developed indigenous training models involving a whole range of other players such as parents, principals and chiefs”.
She said they train them on governance, financial management and how to make their own toys from waste materials so that their project could be self-sustainable. She said they have also incorporated HIV/Aids teaching so that they can provide support to infected and affected children.
Picken said the awards are ‘a wonderful tribute to our committed and dedicated staff who, despite their lack of formal education, have contributed immensely to the centre”.
The awards were hosted by Absa, the South African Congress of Early Childhood Development (SACECD) and the Sowetan
And the winners are …
Winners of the Absa/Sowetan Early Childhood Development Awards:
Practitioner of the year
1. Masesi Winnie Nsimbini, founder of Khulangelwati Pre-Day Centre in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga.
2. Winter Rose Smangele Mpuzana of Siyakhula Creche and Pre-School in Stanger, KwaZulu-Natal.
3. Bochilo Lina Maake of Ismail Rethabile Motshabi Creche in Mokopane, Limpopo.
Home-based centre of the year
1. Elizabeth Manzini, founder of Tintlhari Day Care Centre in Letsitele, Limpopo.
2. Khethiwe Masimula of Sinethemba Day Care Centre in Dobsonville, Gauteng.
3. Nondi Nora Pumani of Makukhanye Day Care Centre in East London, Eastern Cape.
Community-based care centre of the year
1. Grace Mahlalela, founder of Ithuseng Pre-School in Kwaquga, Mpumalanga.
2. Nokuthula Zulu of Khulakahle David Bear Centre in Hammarsdale, KwaZulu-Natal
3. Nelly Stone of Nelly’s Day Care in Diepkloof, Gauteng.
Resource and training organisation of the year
1. Training Resource in Early Education (Tree) in Northway, KwaZulu-Natal.
2. Centre for Social Development in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape and Pepps ECD Training.
3. Ntataise Trust in Viljoenskroon in Free State.