Vehicle donation helps expand early childhood education in KZN, Eastern Cape
Brian Liggett, Impande Yotshani NPC director, said the donation means so much more to them than just a vehicle.
Some 224 early childhood development centres in severely under-served areas of the Eastern Cape are set to receive critical early learning support and nutrition as a result of a recent R590 000 vehicle donation to Port Shepstone-based Impande Yotshani NPC by the South African Muslim Charitable Trust (SAMCT).
Impande Yotshani, established in 2001, is a critical regional hub that strategically supports organisations with the capacity to provide quality early childhood development (ECD) services to children aged 0-6 years. Its teams are currently reaching 1 832 ECD centres and 71 000 young learners.
SAMCT representative Gaff Osman said the new vehicle will expand the organisation’s reach, bringing critical early learning support and nutrition to an increasing number of last-mile, hard-to-reach, impoverished communities in KZN and the Eastern Cape.
Brian Liggett, Impande Yotshani NPC director, said the donation means so much more to them than just a vehicle.
“It means reach. Our work happens in the most rural parts of KZN and the Eastern Cape, where early childhood centres are often kilometres from the nearest tarred road. Every visit to support a teacher, deliver learning materials, or help a centre register for a subsidy depends on reliable transport getting there. With this vehicle, our field team can reach more children, more consistently, and with less time lost on the road.”
Osman said that Impande Yotshani’s work contributed to change at a macro-level through effective regional data collection, which is used for resource allocation and recommendations for broader national policy priorities and policy change.
Working in severely marginalised, rural communities in KZN and the Eastern Cape, the organisation’s strategy is to improve access to and quality of community-driven ECD programmes.
Impande Yotshani’s regional footprint has grown significantly during the past two decades. Currently, it operates in 11 local municipalities across four district municipalities, being Ugu and Harry Gwala in southern KZN, and Alfred Nzo and OR Tambo in the northern Eastern Cape.
The SAMCT was created in 2008, as the result of a partnership between Old Mutual Unit Trusts and Al Baraka Bank.
The organisation provides funding, services and other resources to improve the lives of the vulnerable, deprived and disadvantaged.
Its funds are distributed to help improve the health and development of deserving people and organisations, irrespective of race or religion.
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