Touch One: Touch Many

NHAKA FOUNDATION SPREADS WINGS ALL THE WAY TO MOZAMBIQUE

Nhaka Foundation is proud to play a part in numerous early childhood development programs aimed at preparing children for the future. This is done through a community-based approach that includes projects in education, health, food security and psychosocial support for children aged between 0 – 8 years of age. The Foundation has been in existence since 2008 and has recently embarked on its biggest and most exciting program thus far having partnered with Mozambique’s Wona Sanana, an NGO registered in Mozambique since 2003 with a focus on the implementation of participatory education programmes in preschools and primary schools and capacity building in the communities.  Our partnership with Wona Sanana is bolstered by yet another partnership we have with TDH-Germany and the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) Germany to ensure the flow of much needed resources that will realise the dreams and aspirations of communities to have secure, stable and safe school infrastructure.

In Zimbabwe, Nhaka Foundation is currently busy with the projects that will see many communities benefit from the construction of Early Childhood Development centres as well as feeding schemes and nutrition gardening projects aimed at spearheading the organisation’s preferred core ethos – Access to learning, play and healthy feeding both at school and at home.  In Zimbabwe’s Manicaland province this is being done in Mutare’s Southern District community of Chitakatira as well as Seke District’s Budiriro situated in Mashonaland South while in Mozambique, the province of Maputo is the site for implementation.

Love transcends geographical boundaries and the story of Nhaka Foundation touching one and touching many is just taking yet another interesting twist. Please follow our detailed activities on our social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) as well as the Nhaka Foundation Blog on our website and be sure to walk with us as we reach out and partner with as many communities as we can.

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Implementing quality and holistic early learning programs in Zimbabwe and Mozambique

Project Title:

Development and systemisation of effective models of early childhood care  and education in underserved rural communities of Zimbabwe and Mozambique

Project Objective:

The project contributes to quality, holistic and lifelong Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) for children between 0 and 8 years of age in underserved rural areas in Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Project Outcomes

The physical, socio-emotional and cognitive development of 6,995 children between 0 and 8 years of age in 5 rural communities (2 in Zimbabwe, 3 in Mozambique) is secured and innovative, holistic and scalable models of rural ECCE are applied in the project communities

Project Duration: 3 Years

By Project End:

§  4,730 children aged 0-7 years would have received regular health screenings, a varied meal per day and access to clean drinking water throughout the school year.

§  1,080 parents/caregivers and community volunteers would have improved their parenting skills

§  Access to child-friendly, inclusive ECCE care, which takes current standards and curricula into account, would have been established in the 5 project communities

§  Two local implementing organizations Nhaka Foundation (Zimbabwe) and Wona Sanana (Mozambique) and staff  would have improved their knowledge and skills in managing complex projects as well as their technical knowledge and skills in child protection, child rights, nutrition, working with disabled children, advocacy and assessment tools.

Team Nhaka 2019
info@nhakafoundation.org 

Increasing Access to ECD: Nhaka-TDH-BMZ Project

Nhaka Foundation and TDH-Germany Partner to Increase Access to Early Childhood Development for young children in rural Zimbabwe.

We are truly excited to be entering into this great partnership with TDH-Germany and the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) Germany. The project is designed to develop and systematize effective models of early childhood care and education in rural Zimbabwe. To make this even more exciting, Nhaka Foundation will be collaborating with Wona Sanana a non profit organization based in Maputo, Mozambique who will be implementing a similar project.

Founded in 2008, Nhaka Foundation is a key player in the field of early childhood development in Zimbabwe. In this context, Nhaka Foundation pursues a community-based approach that includes projects in education, health, food security and psychosocial support for children. The work of Nhaka Foundation focuses on children between 0 and 8 years of age and promotes safe and clean ECCE institutions, child-friendly pedagogical models and teacher training, linking this with nutrition programmes and nutrition and hygiene education, access to health care and psychosocial support. Buoyed by the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education in October 2016, Nhaka Foundation works in rural communities on projects designed to increase access to early childhood development for the nation’s littlest and most vulnerable.

The communities of Chitakatira Ward located in the Mutare South District in Manicaland and Budiriro Ward in Seke District in Mashonaland East will be beneficiaries of the projects to be implemented. In Chitakatira Ward, Nhaka Foundation will work directly at the Chitakatira Primary School (310 children between 4 and 5 years and 540 children between 6 and 8 years, a total of 850 children) and with a further 438 children between 0 and 3 years in the immediate neighbourhood who are not yet attending school. In Budiriro Ward, the project will be implemented at Logan Lee School, which does not have its own school building. So far, the children have been taught in a former tobacco barn. The school has 132 children between the ages of 2 and 8 (a total of 238 pupils).

The early childhood period is a critical foundational moment in human development and Nhaka Foundation recognizes that vulnerable children require early childhood development (ECD) services to help them achieve their potential. This early foundation in life, sets them up for a life full of possibilities.

Follow this work on our Facebook Page, follow conversations on Twitter, read all about the progress on our Nhaka Blog and view some pictures on our Nhaka Instagram.

Team Nhaka Foundation 2019

They want to laugh, dance and play!

About Nhaka Foundation

The Nhaka Foundation is a Zimbabwe-based non-governmental organization which has developed and implemented a series of interventions designed to bridge the gap between the government’s capabilities and policies mandating the requirement for early childhood development (ECD) programming in primary schools and its ability to fully realize the implementation of such programs.

Nhaka Foundation has created among its programs one which seeks to promote children’s play. As a part of the classroom and outdoor playground renovations program Nhaka works with the families and members of the community to plan and build, expand or repair the playgrounds and equipment using readily available and safe materials. Once restored to a like-new condition, the Centers are officially incorporated into the primary school system and sustained by the community through elected Pre-School Management Committees. This contract requirement thus ensures that the children will continue to have clean and safe spaces in which to work and play.

Learning through play

Nhaka Foundation holds community appreciative inquiry meetings that help shape its programming. When parents and guardians are asked, “What are the things that kids want to do?” the team almost always gets the same answer, irrespective of the community they are visiting. Children want to “laugh, dance and play.”  Play is the means through which children learn and develop socially, physically, cognitively and emotionally. During play, be it solitary play or in a group, children learn a variety of skills including the development of positive attitudes and the ability to draw relationships between objects and concepts. When children play, they learn to form ideas about their environment and expand language abilities through social interactions with their own age groups. In turn, they develop values and qualities that help them to establish relationships with family members and people outside their family.

Mrs Madzinga, head teacher of one of the schools that fall under the Nhaka program areas recognises that many parents have different beliefs about the relationship between play activities and learning. While parents view learning from the lens of structured play activities, as a teacher she encourages the parents to identify non structured activities as having equal- if not more value -because when children are allowed to be themselves they get in touch with their inner beings. All types of play contribute to healthy physical growth and the overall development of a child.

While the Zimbabwean ECD syllabus is based on sound, proven early childhood pedagogy and practice principles, its proper implementation is subject to a number of things such as availability of resources including ECD trained teachers, classroom blocks, and outdoor and indoor play equipment. Despite the shortage of these resources, a challenge faced  most rural schools in Zimbabwe, teachers such as Mrs Madzinga have learned to improvise in her class. For example she encourages her pupils to engage in play activities such as the local entertainment called “mahumbwe” (role playing), a game where kids can pretend to be anyone. When her pupils are role playing about what happens in a hospital one child can be a nurse, another a doctor and yet another, a patient. This type of play promotes creative imagination in children. Social dramatic play can develop the child’s creativeness and language skills simultaneously.

Role of parents in play

Through its parenting program the Nhaka Foundation promotes the involvement of guardians and caregivers in the lives of young children, something not too common in these areas. Parental involvement is not just limited to the role the caregivers have at home, but also relates to activities that happen at the early childhood development centres. Parents are encouraged to supply empty food cartons for play activities, as well as any old equipment that can be used by the kids in various play activities.  A child-centred approach to early childhood development recognises that children’s rights and needs are the primary focus for development and parents have to be involved every step of the way.

Conclusion

Play is in an integral part of learning for young children. Albert Einstein once said ‘play is the highest form of research. Early childhood development programs should provide as much  growing space as possible for children; a space that allows them to just be themselves as they laugh, dance and play!.

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Early Childhood Development Teacher Training at Nhaka Foundation