The Unlimited Child has partnered with Amalgamated Beverage Industries (ABI), to roll out their CSI (corporate social investment) in Kwa-Zulu Natal. ABI will invest over R1 million with The Unlimited Child, a Hillcrest based Non-profit Organisation, over the next two years which will directly impact the lives of over 1 000 children in more than 20 crèches.
Tshidi Ramogase, ABI’s Corporate Affairs Director, said that it is part of the company’s philosophy that ABI gives back to the communities within which it operates. “Early Childhood Development is one of the main areas for the ABI CSI Programme, and we have decided to start this roll out in Umlazi, Inanda and Ntuzuma/KwaMashu. We approached The Unlimited Child to roll out this project as this organisation offers a sustainable approach to ECD.” said Tshidi.
ABI, the soft drink division of South African Breweries and the biggest of The Coca-Cola Company bottler in Africa, identified The Unlimited Child as the best Early Childhood Development model as their deliverables provide immediate impact on the lives of young children. The Unlimited Child achieves this by supplying the crèches with educational toys specifically designed to develop cognitive and fine motor skills in pre-school children. At the same time, crèche caregivers are trained to ensure they know how to maximise the use of the toys and create stimulating learning environments.
What sets The Unlimited Child apart is that the organisation performs regular, on-going evaluation and monitoring of the crèches and caregivers to ensure that the equipment is used properly. Thus, the initial scope of the project has expanded to emphasise long term sustainability, empowerment and life-long learning.
“It is very important to us that the caregivers remain trained and the toy kits remain with the crèches. So even when the 2 year contract is over, and the 1 050 children have run through the facilities every year, the following year more kids will be able to benefit from the education.” Tshidi said.
Ian Corbishley, a Director of The Unlimited Child, believes that the new partnership with ABI will create a synergy that impacts on the quality of early learning for thousands of pre-schoolers in the Greater Durban Area. “The very fact that ABI has recognised the crucial role of the early learning years in the South African education continuum is great news and has given The Unlimited Child team a major boost in their work in crèches in underprivileged areas of Kwa-Zulu Natal.” Corbishley said.
The work done by The Unlimited Child is grounded on studies that have proven that unless children aged 0 to six years are exposed to the correct inputs such as learning colours and shapes through educational toys, their potential in life will be severely impacted.
A simple model that is easily duplicated, The Unlimited Child has already successfully reached 326 crèches that together care for over 27 500 children and has provided training for more than 970 caregivers. The plan is to roll this campaign out nationally and reach 1, 25 million children by 2016. Corbishley said: “With the help of partners like ABI, The Unlimited Child will be able to reach their target quicker and more effectively than expected.”
The Unlimited Child is very excited to be embarking on this journey with ABI. Corbishley added: “Having had ABI approach The Unlimited Child is an indication that more and more people in business are acknowledging that investment in Early Childhood Development is equally important as investment in the other phases of education.”
For more information, please visit the website at www.theunlimitedchild.co.za
URL: http://theunlimitedchild.co.za
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Author: Christel Liebenberg from Peridot Communications. Originally distributed by MyPR.co.za.
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ABI (Amalgamated Beverage Industries) will invest over R1 million with The Unlimited Child, a Hillcrest based Non-profit Organisation, over the next two years which will directly impact the lives of over 1 000 children in more than 20 crèches. Photographer: The Unlimited
