BE THE LEGACY THIS MANDELA DAY
“Our children are the rock on which our future will be built, our greatest asset as a nation. They will be the leaders of our country, the creators of our national wealth who care for and protect our people” – Nelson Mandela
Approximately 40% of young children in South Africa grow up in conditions of abject poverty and neglect. Children raised in such under-resourced communities are most at risk of stunted growth, poor adjustment to school, increased repetition of grades and school dropout.
To break the cycle of poverty, investing in early learning is vital but what is apparent is that in these marginalized communities there is limited or no access to early childhood development services, yet early learning is crucial if we are to break the cycle of poverty. It is in the first five years that children need to be exposed to pre literacy and maths concepts, and is the foundation on which all later learning is built. Children who do not receive these early learning opportunities are more likely to become frustrated with classroom learning, often leading to a higher dropout rate. According to a report by the Centre for Development and Enterprise, for every 100 pupils starting Grade 1, only 52 make it to Grade 12.
Cotlands has responded to this crisis by designing innovative, non-centre based early learning playgroup and toy library programmes. These programmes give vulnerable children access to high quality play-based early learning opportunities to reduce the effects of deprivation and promote the development of innate potential. You can partner with us this Mandela Day to help us change the trajectory of vulnerable children’s lives by:
1. Visiting a playgroup on Mandela Day to help a child make a toy from waste. The child will have the opportunity to spend some quality time with an adult and have a toy to take home at the end of the day. Our early learning playgroups are located in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KZN. We would welcome volunteers at all our playgroup sites – Please note this programme is full. Thank you for your interest
2. Collecting second hand toys in good condition that we can use in our early learning theme kits.
3. Getting a group of friends, family members or colleagues together to make toys from waste that can be used in our toy libraries. We will provide you with the templates and a list of recycled goods needed to produce the toys – Please note this programme is full. Thank you for your interest
4. Donating items from the list for use in our early learning playgroups
Download the Nelson Mandela activities donate list
5. Donating R100 to Cotlands early learning programmes in celebration of Mandela’s centenary year.
To find out more information or to join one of our playgroups, please contact Amelia Joubert on
011 683 7200 or amelia@brandplay.co.za or Gary Janeke on 021 857 3758 or gary@brandplay.co.za.
On behalf of the children we have cared for, those we are caring for now, and those we are still to encounter, we thank you for your support this Mandela Day.