In an effort to flatten the curve, South Africa went into a hard lockdown on 27 March 2020 to keep COVID-19 infection rates low. With the slight easing of lockdown levels, some have been able to return to work, but for many it has been an increasingly difficult time, as they face job losses or reduced working hours, leading to minor or no income. In order to slightly ease the burden that many of the families and children who we support face, we distributed food vouchers to those who are facing the most difficult circumstances. As always, we could not have done this without the support of our loyal donor community and compassionate partners.
It’s imperative to continue to assist where possible, especially when it comes to feeding the hungry. Inadequate nutrition poses a serious risk to our children’s cognitive health during this period. Stunting continues to be a real and irreversible threat.
Our level of stunting in South Africa is at 27% and just over one in four young children are stunted, with children under the age of two with inadequate nutrition being the most vulnerable. At this age, stunting can cause the most damage to a child’s growth, health and neuro-development, leaving a child with diminished cognitive capabilities. Children will tend to show poor school attendance because cognitive health was suffering as a result, which makes it very difficult for a child to thrive later in life.
We at Cotlands rely heavily on philanthropic giving of our donors to ensure food security is in place for our beneficiaries across our 42 sites and that our children are not at risk of stunting. We’d like to do more for children in South Africa during this lockdown period, so if you would like to send a food voucher gift to a family, please click here to give more.
To ensure we reach children in our care that are under two, we provided baby food and porridge to mothers, and packed lunches for children aged 3-5 years old. In addition, with the backing of our donors and partners we have distributed over 3000 food parcels to our beneficiaries in our early learning playgroups in marginalised communities in Gauteng, Kwazulu-Natal and Mpumalanga.
Although we continue to face adversity and funding constraints, our team is passionate and committed to stay the course; we want to ensure that we are able to give every child a fair advantage to survive this pandemic and break out of an intergenerational poverty trap!
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