Toy library for children of Mbuba village

The Little Elephant Training Centre for Early Education (LETCEE) strives to be the provider of choice for ECD activities in the KwaZulu-Natal interior. Its vision is for every community in which LETCEE works to become a nurturing environment for children.

OVERVIEW

LETCEE is a well-established social-profit organisation with more than 15 years of experience in delivering training and support to ECD practitioners in remote, under-resourced areas of the KwaZulu-Natal interior.
Mbuba is a deep rural community near Greytown in the Umzinyathi district, a Presidential Poverty Node in KwaZulu Natal. The Sikhulakahle (“We are Growing Well”) Project was established in June 2008 after LETCEE was approached by a representative of the local leadership of Mbuba village to start a community-based ECD project. This innovative project implements rights-based interventions aimed at strengthening families, assisting them to access essential services, including birth registration and social grants, and providing early education opportunities for young children. An existing network of local Family Facilitators and youth Buddies are already actively involved in working with children in this community.

LETCEE plans to establish a container-based toy library in Mbuba village. This will significantly improve the quality of play opportunities and provide children with constructive leisure time activities. The library will lend toys to responsible adults and provide on-site play activities

WHAT WE LIKE ABOUT THIS PROJECT

• The project proposes a novel solution to the fact that pre-school children growing up in poor communities do not generally have access to toys
• The toy library is not an isolated intervention in this community. There is already a range of other activities which take place largely at household level which promote the use of educational toys and investment in pre-school children.
• There is already a well established network of family facilitators and buddies in this community. They will act as agents to market the library and to attract children to it.
• The fact that the Municipality has agreed to host the toy library on the community hall grounds demonstrates institutional support for the project.

EXPECTED LIFE CHANGE

An investment of R 55, 687.50 will provide:

• 224 children under 6 years of age with access to toys and play opportunities
• 13 Family Facilitators, 35 Buddies (9 – 13 year olds) and 3 ECD centres from surrounding areas with access to additional toys for family visits and structured preschool activities.

The estimated direct life change is R 203 per beneficiary.

NEED

Language acquisition, motor skills, problem solving and relationship-building are critical skills which are advanced through structured educational activities with young children. Despite the national mandate to introduce Grade R in primary schools, the majority of children under six years of age do not have access to any preschool education. In under-resourced communities, ECD practitioners also have little access to quality training and resources. Mbuba is an extremely impoverished community with few opportunities for employment. Elderly women dominate the community because many of the men are absent, seeking work elsewhere. Community leaders estimate that less than a quarter of the remaining adults are employed, mostly as labourers on nearby farms. Almost half of families live below the poverty line. There are no medical facilities in the community. There is only one pre-school in the community and one primary school. Children must walk more than five kilometres to the next village to attend secondary school. These factors mean that all the children in this community are extremely vulnerable.

The existing ECD project in Mbuba has twelve adult Family Facilitators who conduct home visits and thirty-six children involved as Buddies to work with younger children. Each Family Facilitator and Buddy has been provided with a basic bag of toys which is used when playing with the children during family visits. Family Facilitators and Buddies occasionally exchange their toy bags at the toy library in Matimatolo, the adjoining village where LETCEE has already established a toy library. Exchanges are limited due to the distance between villages and the demand for stock.

STRATEGY

The LETCEE approach to community based interventions is founded in a rights-based approach which seeks to ensure that the child is cared for, protected and given opportunities for development in a holistic way. The Sikhulakahle Project (“We are Growing Well”) in Mbuba village is overseen by local municipal and traditional leaders, who co-ordinate feedback meetings with community members and supervise the work of the locally appointed ECD project manager.

LETCEE strives to build the confidence and capacity of adults so that they will create nurturing environments for the children in their community. It achieves this by:

• Supporting a cohort of volunteers (Family Facilitators) who facilitate learning through play in the homes of children not able to attend an ECD site
• Providing resources for play and learning
• Offering accredited ECD training at NQF levels 1 and 4
• Strengthening families by providing information, support and encouragement to parents and caregivers
• Encouraging and supporting the registration and improvement of early learning facilities

The construction and equipping of a container based toy library at Mbuba village will directly support the first two strategies described here.

The library will operate as a resource in a number of ways:

• It will be open daily in the afternoons for open play sessions for the children. Family Facilitators and Buddies will accompany younger children to and from the toy library site and will provide supervision.
• On three mornings a week, there will be structured play sessions for children.
• Once a month, Grade R teachers from ECD centres operating in the surrounding area will visit the library for a special skills building session.
• Family Facilitators and Buddies will be able to borrow toys for their work at family level with children.

ACTION PLAN

Preparation

The local chief has already granted permission for the container to be positioned in the grounds of the Community Hall. This has a security fence and there are ablutions, running water and electricity on site. A piece of land will be levelled ready to throw a slab on which to place the container.

Implementation

• Ordering of container
• Ordering of toys
• Purchase of materials for concrete slab
• Throwing concrete slab
• Positioning of container
• Building shelves
• Painting
• Thatching a covered play area
• Stocking of toy library
• Opening of toy library
• Introductory play sessions
• Facilitated play sessions to introduce toys and games and library concept
• Weekly toy exchanges
• Daily play sessions

Monitoring and Evaluation

• The Sikhulakahle project already has a monitoring and evaluation system in place. The toy library will be included in this. The system is made of interviews with beneficiaries (including children), monthly report forms and reports to the liaison committee.
• One of the Family Facilitators will specifically be responsible for managing the toy library. S/He will report weekly to the Community Co-ordinator who will include data on activities in her monthly reports to LETCEE.
• The toy library will use a basic manual borrowing system. Toys will need to be signed out by a responsible adult.
• LETCEE field staff, from both the community projects and training departments, visit the schools and Family Facilitators to monitor implementation. Use of toys will be observed during these visits.

ORGANISATION ASSESSMENT

LETCEE is a well established organisation which has been providing ECD capacity building within rural KwaZulu Natal for 15 years. It follows a nationally accredited curriculum for ECD training and consciously builds community ownership into the management of community based initiatives, such as this toy library. LETCEE has excellent technical support around pre-school education within its own ranks, as well as through provincial and national partnerships it has developed. It has recently taken part in a UNICEF documentation project which profiles best practices within ECD.

LETCEE has well-established monitoring and evaluation methods and works in a consultative manner in order to grow community engagement with village-based ECD interventions. It has strong systems in place and supports its interventions with a range of holistic activities which further benefit its key target group, being children under the age of six years.

The key issue which could present challenges to the organisation fulfilling its mission in the short-term relates to financial resources. The organisation is awaiting response to a number of new funding proposals but is currently in a position of some uncertainty as to exactly what funding is available for its activities during the coming year. This situation has arisen because traditional sources of governmental funding did not materialise during 2009, a problem that will hopefully be rectified again from 2010. In the event that funding for all activities is not sourced during 2010 and 2011, LETCEE will not be able to provide the usual levels of community based mentoring, capacity building and support on ECD activities.

RISK PROFILE

Key Strengths

• Concept: The ECD concept used in this project is well supported by best practice trends in the sector. It is developmental in that it is child focussed, places community involvement at its centre and provides resources directly on the ground.
• Design: The project is based on the same design as an existing toy library already implemented and monitored by LETCEE. As a result this project involves bringing to scale a design which has already been proven to function well.
• Capability: LETCEE staff are well qualified. An existing community based team has been trained and is already operating in Mbuba community. There is good engagement in local ECD from local leadership.
• Control: Strong systems for monitoring and reporting on activities are already in place. Regular meetings with community leadership provide good channels for transparency and accountability.
• Sustainability: Many components of the project will be sustainable into the future. The fact that there is a toy ‘hospital as part of the toy library allows for repair of damaged toys. ECD practitioners are also taught how to make toys at low cost from recycled material.
• External: This project’s connection with good practice within the ECD sector overall place it in a strong position. The project can serve to further strengthen advocacy on the part of LETCEE for further similar interventions in rural communities.

Key Risks - Low

• Concept: Beneficiaries have not been consulted extensively around the establishment of the toy library and this may require further community education. However, the success of the current toy bag system means there is good reason to expect that the toy library will be well supported.
• Sustainability: There is a risk of future lack of engagement of the Community Co-ordinator and Family Facilitators if they are not able to receive monthly stipends for their activities.
• External: Although state policy explicitly indicates support for the ECD sector, accessing state funding is subject to factors totally outside of the control of LETCEE. The degree to which such funding is available will determine the extent to which LETCEE is able to provide complementary activities which ensure a holistic approach to the development of young children.