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Our children are South Africa's most valuable resource, but they are also most vulnerable to socio-economic, political, and environmental inequalities we face today.
Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres must play a larger role in the lives of our children, especially those from disadvantaged rural communities. These children need support and resources to be happy and healthy children and become adults that will break the cycle of poverty and achieve higher living standards.
The Topsy Foundation NPC (Topsy) is a registered internationally-respected South African Non-Profit Company and Public Benefit Organisation that is on a mission to work with ECD centres through initiatives that support children to unlock their full potential.
Topsy was founded in 2000 and provides relief services to some of South Africa’s most under-resourced rural communities in Mpumalanga. For the past 18 years, Topsy has made a massive difference in communities from providing food security to healthcare for HIV positive community members. For the last few years Topsy has been focusing on supporting and contributing to Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres, based within the community of Dipaleseng.
Topsy, in partnership with 20 ECD centres aim to provide these disadvantaged rural communities with the support and tools needed to raise happy, healthy and capable children.
The early years of a child’s life is when the brain develops most rapidly. During this age, the foundation is laid for health and wellbeing throughout life.
According to the World Health Organisation, providing care in a stable environment, that is sensitive to children’s health and nutritional needs, with protection from threats, opportunities for early learning, and interactions that are responsive, emotionally supporting and developmental stimulating – is at the heart of children’s potential to develop.
The foundation partners with three rural communities based in the sub-district of Dipaleseng namely; Nthoroane, Grootvlei and Siyathemba and has built solid relationships with these communities.
Topsy’s approach to the ECD is holistic and consists of key crucial components to ensure community upliftment:
Stimulation and Early Learnings
Topsy’s Early Childhood Development programme provides educational resources through their Play and Learn Centre and supports practitioners with accredited ECD training.
Nutritional Support (vegetable gardens and ad hoc food donations)
Malnutrition is a serious issue in South Africa. Malnutrition can hinder a child's ability to grow normally. Stunting is a long-term effect of malnutrition. When a child lacks nutrients, normal growth and development the child’s height and weight is well under normal when compared with children of the same age. Growing vegetable gardens not only provide food security but can also serve as a source of income for the communities.
Health (Health screening, primary care medication, X-rays, growth monitoring, hearing and vision testing and referral for specialized care)
Topsy’s trained professional nurse and community care workers assist with monitoring health of children daily at Topsy Play and Learn Center and home-based care services referrals for specialized care.
Psycho-Social (Counselling and referrals)
Psycho-Social support entails placing and maintaining children in stable and supportive family environments. This nurturing is invaluable for vulnerable children, who are faced with socio-economic challenges, because negative influences can lead to anxiety, depression that could hinder social development. Topsy also refers children to professionals that can assist them with their struggles.
Social support (Helping parents to access “Birth Certificates” and “Child Support Grants” which is a key for children’s education and wellbeing)
Illiteracy and lack of information is a concern in South Africa. This often leads to children not being legally registered. Furthermore, orphans need an adult to get the paperwork, in an already overworked and backlogged Home Affairs Department. An ID is not a luxury, it is a necessity to give a child an identity, access to school, medical treatment and other government services.
‘Child Support Grants” enable parents to better care for the child either by being able to afford more nutritious food, pay for attendance at ECD centres or pay a fee at the clinic.
Topsy relies on donations to fund the foundation and is grateful to the many partners who have shown them support over the years. However, large corporate, government and all stakeholders are invited to contribute to Topsy’s initiatives that have effected positive change in rural communities.
For more information on how to make a real, long-lasting difference in the lives of South Africa’s vulnerable children, visit http://www.topsy.org.za
References
https://www.unicef.org/southafrica/protection_6633.html
http://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=10950
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Dr. Ewa Skowronska has been appointed as the executive director at The Topsy Foundation NPC. The Foundation’s mission is to provide disadvantaged rural communities with the support and tools needed to raise happy, healthy and capable children. The Topsy Foundation aims to provide the opportunity for these children to thrive, regardless of where they come from.
With the aim of breaking the cycle of poverty and empower rural communities, the Topsy Foundation leverages community assets for sustainable change. This is done through a holistic set of services which includes education (early childhood development and inclusive education); food security (vegetable gardens); health (health screening, primary care medication, x-rays, hearing and vision testing); and psycho-social support. (counselling and referrals).
Dr. Skowronska trained as a Medical Doctor and Master of Public Health specialist (MD/MPH) at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and will be responsible for strategic and operational direction at The Topsy Foundation and overall technical support for Early Childhood Development (ECD) Programme that is being implemented in three districts in Mpumalanga.
Before joining The Topsy Foundation, Dr. Skowronska worked at mothers2mothers as Senior Technical Advisor providing strategic direction, technical leadership and operational oversight to seven Country Offices in sub-Saharan Africa: Kenya, Malawi, Lesotho, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda and South Africa. Her areas of responsibility included Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health and Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW) related to HIV. At mothers2mothers she worked in tandem with a wide continuum of external partners and stakeholders, such as donors, national governments, private-public partnerships and civil society.
Prior to that, Dr Skowronska worked with the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative in Malawi as a Paediatric HIV/AIDS Manager. In this capacity she developed, and implemented programs supporting national efforts in scaling-up PMTCT and Paediatric HIV/AIDS care and treatment, at a national and district level.
During her career with Pharmacia/Pfizer as a medical director her diverse portfolio enabled her to gain extensive knowledge about clinical research and development, as well as managerial experience in fast-paced multinational and multidisciplinary environments.
“We are delighted to have Dr Skowronska join our team,” says Sarah du Toit, Development Manager at The Topsy Foundation, “her extensive skillset, expertise and experience in the development sector are a great asset to our organisation. We have some very exciting new ventures in the pipeline for 2018 that she will spearhead, which will springboard our initiatives and efficacy into new realms.”
About The Topsy Foundation NPC
The Topsy Foundation NPC, which was established in 2000, is a fully-registered and internationally-respected South African Non-Profit Organisation which provides relief services to some of South Africa’s most under-resourced communities.
The Topsy Foundation partners with three communities in the sub-district of Dipaleseng, Mpumalanga. Activities take place from a central project site called the Topsy Health and Stimulation Centre which is established as a focal point for the surrounding communities. This area, often referred to as a forgotten part of the country, due to its scant infrastructure and lack of large-scale industry, is home to several large rural communities situated around the towns of Balfour, Grootvlei and Greylingstad.
Sarah du Toit | Development Manager | The Topsy Foundation NPC
Ogilvy & Mather, 15 Sloane Street, Bryanston, Johannesburg
E-mail: sarah.dutoit@ogilvy.co.za
Tel: +27 11 709 6678
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At Topsy, it’s our mission to provide disadvantaged rural communities with the support and tools needed to raise happy, healthy and capable children. We strive to achieve this through our Early Childhood Development Programme. The programme goals are:
One of the many services offered through this programme, is the training of day care centre principals and practitioners in rural Mpumalanga, South Africa.
2017 was the third year of the practitioner training, facilitated by our partner, The ASHA Trust. Twelve of our ECD centre principals successfully completed the training, which was broken down into the following four modules throughout the year:
Module 1: How children develop and learn.
Learning outcomes:
Module 2: Physical development
Learning Outcomes:
Module 3: Social and emotional Development
Learning Outcomes:
Module 4: Cognitive development
Leaning Outcomes:
On 10th November 2017 a graduation ceremony was held for all 2017 ASHA Trust learners and Topsy was honoured to be included in this auspicious event. The guest speakers congratulated the graduates for persevering to the end of the programme, as well as being instruments of change in the lives of the children in our communities.
One of Topsy’s principals, Ms Agnes Gqoboka from Tholulwazi Day Care Centre, was selected to give a speech at the event. Agnes spoke about how the child development course had positively impacted her knowledge and understanding of children’s developmental needs as well as how they can enhance their development. There was much singing and celebration and a performance was given by children from Mini Busy Bodies Day Care Centre.
Congratulations to all the graduating principals and the Topsy ECD programme staff, and a huge thank you for their hard work and commitment. We look forward to working with a new intake of principals in 2018 and having another impactful year of training.
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We would like to introduce you to three amazing leaners, Rethabile, Boitumelo and Thando. These three girls attend our Afterschool Programme. They have been receiving support with homework and regular lessons in English, Maths and Life Skills, from Teacher Nyenge, for nearly two years now.
All 3 of them have been awarded certificates of achievement being within the top 10 students for overall academic performance at their school.
Teacher Nyenge said "The girls are rejoicing, this has made them even more determined to work harder. It was positive reinforcement indeed."
We are so proud of their growth, and pleased are that our work is having impact. We hope their success continues throughout their school career and beyond.
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Our Early Childhood Development (ECD) Programme came into existence in 2014. We started out with a Play and Learn Centre which served 1300 children a year, and partnerships with 24 ECD centres. The word spread and impact was noticed by other principals in the area. In 2015, other ECD centres expressed an interest in joining forces with Topsy to improve the lives of the children in their care by creating better ECD centres. We now work with 38 ECD centres and reach 1924 children on average each month.
Our ECD programme would not have such great success if it wasn’t for the strong relationships we have built with the ECD principals and practitioners, their hard work and dedication to improving themselves and their centres. One such Lady, Rose, attended the Money Management training we provided, which was facilitated by our partner NGO ASHA Trust. Like many of the ladies in our ECD programme, Rose is proud to be an ECD centre principal but never imagined her centre could operate like a business.
According to Rose, before the training her money management skills were limited and as a result there were many times she had to juggle between her income and expenses of the centre. Rose proudly admits her relief since the training, as she now has a budget in place that guides her spending. She now knows how to prioritise her spending without compromising the quality of operations of the centre. She is confident to present her accounts and is ready for the Department of Social Development’s monitoring processes every time it is required. She expresses her gratefulness for the opportunity that we have offered her and her ECD centre.
2017 is the third and final year of training for Rose and the other 16 principals in this 3-year training cycle. We look forward to offering more opportunities to more practitioners in the year ahead.
Our ECD programme not only focuses on the education of young children, but offers food security, health services and emotional support to develop the child holistically. We believe that all children deserve the opportunity to thrive, regardless of where they come from.
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