Hamba Bamba Funda

 

The Project’s Objective

Hamba Bamba Funda translated from Zulu means Move Touch Learn

​

HBF is a non-profit organisation that advocates Early Childhood Education from birth until 2 years up until now a neglected social strata where  young children learn to sense and feel themselves, to communicate with others and acquire basic social competences

 

The need is two-fold:

1. Day Care for Children 0-2

2. Support of Teen and Young Mothers

 

Day Care:

• Day care centres and pre-schools in township communities rely on donations and sponsors for financial support.

• The financial limitations affect the number of staff and caregivers for the children and babies.

• Other than changing nappies and feeding the babies, the caregivers are not trained in childcare – which leads to a complete lack of stimulation for the babies in these critical formative years

• At the Kliptown Community Pre School, one caregiver is responsible for 27 babies between the ages of 0 to 2 years (the ideal ratio is one caregiver for 6 children).

​

Actual Status – Support of Teen and Young Mothers

• The unemployment rate in South Africa is 29% and the unemployment rate among young people aged 15–34 is 55,2%

• Teen and young uneducated mothers (and mostly unmarried and in some cases as young as 14) become victims of depression and anxiety due to the stress of having to care for a baby.

• The child is adversely affected due to the lack of love and care required to thrive.

• According to Bob Nameng, a community leader in Kliptown, apartheid severely affected the lives of black South African children.

• Monja Boonzaier, having had the idea of the project and being the initiator of Hamba.Bamba. Funda, realised that more needs to be done to address the issue of both early childhood development and empowering young mothers to discover their potential and finding hope for the future.

​

Hamba Bamba Funda …

• … is working towards rolling out a dual-purpose pilot project in Kliptown as follows: Work with the principal of the Kliptown Community Pre School to recruit caregivers who wish to learn about early childhood development and need work.

• The aim is to train caregivers and work with the principal and community leaders to open the training to young mothers who wish to participate in the pilot project to assist them in caring for and stimulating their own children and to empower them by helping them access their potential as young, dynamic individuals. 

• Once the development, recruitment and selection process are complete, the training will commence in Kliptown.

• Monja Boonzaier will conduct the training.

• The training modules will be carefully structured and planned for a 10-month course. Conducting the training with moms and babies will require flexibility, hands-on experiential intervention and lateral thinking – and Monja is experienced in working under these circumstances.

 

Aims and Objectives

• Train caregivers and helpers to work with the babies and attain a balanced child-caregiver ratio.

• Teach young mothers and care givers to stimulate children in the age group 0 to 2 years.

• Establish a foundation for the babies in the Kliptown Community Pre School to develop in line with Early Childhood Development milestones.

• Empower young mothers to find their potential and give them hope. 

• Bridge the culture-language-diversity-belief divide through means of touch, movement, art and experiential learning.

• Create a safe space for the young mothers and caregivers to explore life.

• Obtain the financial support to effectively implement the pilot project.

• The pilot project will serve as the foundation for future roll out projects.

 

Training Duration

10 months – 2 days per week – 4 hours per day

 

Approximately

• 8 days per month (depending on how many weeks in a month)

• > 32 hours per month

• The program prepares participants for a role as caregivers working with babies in a day care centre to support infant developmental learning from birth to independent walking.

• A 10-month period is necessary to cover all components to the program.

• The training is experiential and consists of hands-on experience & practice, supervision, demonstrations with babies from the community, lectures and self-study. By training unemployed members from the community to stimulate babies 0-2 many people will benefit in the short term and the long term:The babies will be stimulated to reach their basic milestones.

• The young, unemployed, depressed and anxious woman will be given core skills, self- confidence and a purpose in life.

• Other young, unemployed mothers will be able to find compassion and counselling in a support group facilitated by the trainees.

• Families of these young mothers and care givers will be touched by the skills and tools these women have been given.

• Ultimately the community of Kliptown will benefit from the programme.

​

​

 

​