We had the pleasure of  meeting and welcoming Singakwenza to Botswana for the first time and we were particularly lucky that they visited us here in Maun. Singakwenza , means  “We can  do it!” in Isizulu and the organisation, aims to build sustainable early childhood education programs in Economically disadvantaged communities. This non profit organisation is based in Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa and they use resources made from recycling to help educators and caregivers provide fun and educational activities that enable young children to learn through play.

Play is the foundation for all learning in young children and the Singakwenza workshops teach parents, educators and community workers to make their own toys and teaching materials using recyclable materials.. The goal of Singakwenza  at each workshop is to help the caregivers understand that they are the most important element in a child’s education and not the expensive materials they would normally use. Teaching a child is like building a house and during the pre-school years, the parents and educators build the foundation, which will then be built upon by the primary teachers a sthe child grows. This means the pre-school years are the most important in a child’s life and so the foundation has to be a solid one.

The workshop featured different skills  that included Gross Motor Skills, Fine Motor Skills, Math Skills, Language Development and Puzzles. The Pre School teachers from all around Maun who were in attendance were extremely happy with the new information and demonstrations they got from spending the day with the instructors from the  Singakwenza instructors Julie and Sthe.

Talking to one of the participants in the workshop, she was happy and excited to begin teaching her little ones new and creative ways of learning without paying for toys and materials she would otherwise need. “ I have learned how to make balls and skipping ropes out of plastic bags, who would have thought? “ she gushed.  We at Travel for Impact were happy to collaborate with Singakwenza on this amazing workshop and our community will definitely benefit from this partnership. The educators were excited to go and put what they learned to practise. They are also happy to share this new information with their peers as well as the rest of the community and that is what we had hoped to achieve.

We would like to Thank Singakwenza for taking the time to come and share their skills with the Maun community and Botswana. We look forward to a long and beneficial partnership together.

For more information please visit their site at http://www.singakwenza.org