Singakwenza - We Can Do It!

I am swimming in the Oceans 8 Charity Swim this weekend. I have entered the 8 Mile event, to be swum at Durban's beachfront over Saturday and Sunday. I am so excited!

I love swimming, so that's one motivation. And the another significant motivator is who I am swimming for... Singakwenza.

Singakwenza is a local KZN Midlands based charity, and now with a branch in Johannesburg. Julie Hay started Singakwenza in 2010 as a response to the gap in ECD (early childhood development) learning and stimulation for children in disadvantaged communities.

Singakwenza teaches creche owners, parents and teachers about the importance of play and stimulation for young children and teaches them how to make toys from recyclable materials; valuable stimulation for little to no-cost!

They have a Training and Mentorship programme for creche owners, which is comprehensive, in that it not only supports them in providing quality ECD, it also includes a basic book keeping course.

As part of the Training and Mentorship programme, Singakwenza has a full-time Occupational Therapist who provides support, education and assessment. She helps to assess for school readiness and to identify any concerns around learning that a child might have. This is an invaluable early intervention service in under-resourced communities.

They teach people how to make toys from recyclable materials in their Waste 2 Toys workshops. I have attended these workshops before and can attest to how much fun and how innovative they are, and most importantly, provide the stimulation children need.

They provide families with Learn at Home activity boxes, this was started during Covid times in hard lockdown.

And finally, they have launched an App called Play@Home with Singakwenza. This aims to increase play between caregivers and children.

When I was still working in an NGO (dlalanathi) I had the privilege of working with the Singakwenza team many times on joint projects. I can say with conviction that any support of Singakwenza is well worth it! They are hard working, massively invested in children, families and caregiver-children relationships, and they are truly developmental in nature; aware and responsive to the needs in the communities in which they work.

Interview with Johannesburg Branch Manager Sthembile Magwaza

Sthembile (Sthe) recently left our home turf of KZN to run the Singakwenza Johannesburg branch.

Sthe, how long have you been with Singakwenza?

I have been with Singakwenza for 14 years.

What is your current role in Singakwenza?

I am the Johannesburg Branch Manager for Singakwenza. I moved from KZN, my home for my whole life, up to Gauteng in March this year. It's a whole new chapter of my life. I've always been close to home, so this is very different for me and I see it as a positive thing.

My role here is to build new relationships with people. A big change for me is that I am no longer in the community, but am mostly office based. I'm slowly finding my feet, Johannesburg is so different!

What do you think is the most important or siginficant thing you have learned from working at Singakwenza?

You must be understanding of people and their perceptions and views on various topics. Especially in ECD (Early Childhood Development), as you have information that is different from theirs, so you have to be patient and understanding. People can change, and the level at which they receive new information and adapt to it is different for each individual, as well as how they use the information to theiradvantage to bring about change in their work, especially in ECD centres.  

What does the Oceans 8 Charity swim mean to you, and to Singakwenza?

Oceans 8 means a lot. I look at how many NGOs (Non-governmental organisations) werre able to collaborate and do something new together (the event has been running since 2022). Each organisation involved gets to collect funds and also raise the profile of their work. It has put us "out there" to the wider world. All the funds raised benefits thousands of people through the various NGOs.

Can you share a favourite story of a child and caregiver where you have seen a difference being made?

It is of the impact that the programme has had in the communities that we have been working in, especially seeing how it helps one to be able to learn, teach and play at the same time. We have worked with many practitioners that have been willing to learn and practise what they have been taught.

I want to share about one of the practitioners whom I had mentored 6 years ago, who has done our programme and went on to study at Caversham Institute of Education to further her studies. She still uses the Lesson plans we taught her back then and continues to practice even after we have long finished the programme with her. She has proven to be a gem and someone who puts a lot of effort into what she does. Many children will benefit from the skills she has taught them. 

To Sthe, Julie and all the Singakwenza staff, thank you! I know that your passion for children and families runs deep and I love that about you. You can do it, and you have done it! Keep going!

In case you need some hard evidence, please see this infographic below which shows baseline (before) and after results of Grade R children in creches supported by Singakwenza.