Yummy: Children enjoy their daily meal
The highly nutritious porridge is a meal for the children and allows the centre to retain valuable staff
Craig Kudita
For Isabella Letsoara, the principal of Bethlehem Early Childhood Development Centre, the porridge she receives means a lot more than just a meal for the children in her care. It means growth for little minds and her business too.
“The porridge is so nutritious and I don’t need to add anything extra to it,” she says, adding that the savings made from not having to provide breakfast, milk and sugar have enabled her to save at least R2,000 a month.
These savings have allowed her to increase the frequency of payments to her dedicated teachers, creating a more stable and supportive work environment.
Saving to hire teachers
“The ability to hire and retain quality teachers is crucial to the growth of any early childhood development centre. For Isabella, being able to invest in her staff has meant that her teachers are more motivated and committed to the centre’s mission.
“The children benefit from a consistent and nurturing environment, and the teachers feel more valued. The positive effects ripple outwards, strengthening the entire community,” says Adel Terblanche, Community Development Officer at ForAfrika.
The school receives ForAfrika’s specially formulated CSS+ porridge – a corn, soya and sugar blend with added vitamins and minerals essential for children’s optimal growth and development.
The 83 children have been receiving the porridge since April this year and were also fortunate to benefit from a makeover from Breadline Africa and AECI which provided them with new container classrooms and outdoor play equipment.
As part of the makeover, ForAfrika provided three vegetable garden beds, shadecloth and a large, 2,400l rainwater harvesting tank. Training was provided to three staff members on how to establish and maintain the container gardens.
“The veggies will eventually be used to supplement the porridge, adding even more diversity to the children’s diets,” says Adel.
“I can see the difference in the children,” Isabella notes, “the children really want this porridge, and its helping all of us.” By providing meals, ForAfrika is not only ensuring that children are being well fed, but are empowering small business owners too.
Craig Kudita is Communications and Marketing Officer in South Africa
