Johannesburg - Hamba Bamba Funda (HBF) is a non-profit organisation that advocates Early Childhood Education from birth through to 2 years old and is currently running projects in under-resourced areas in Soweto, South Africa.
Currently Early Childhood programmes start from 2 years and upwards, but Hamba Bamba Funda’s SETA accredited program uniquely starts from birth, which gives the child the stimulation and support it needs for building a strong foundation that will last a lifetime.
Recently LIFSA (Local Initiative fund – South Africa) which is an initiative of the government of the principality of Monaco in partnership with the Alliance Française of Johannesburg, with the support of the NGO ILLIS and the Swiss Embassy in South Africa awarded a grant to HBF which will enable HBF to offer formally recognised “Further Education Training Certification in Early Childhood Development “recognised by the registered skills provider ETDP SETA.
This unique Early Childhood Education Program supports ECD from birth and facilitates the holistic development of young babies and toddlers. This program will help broaden and build a lifelong learning foundation for the babies and upskill caregivers/guardians with a view of them being released into the sector, gaining employment, and breaking the cycle of poverty.
The workshop was a huge success with 42 participants turning up. Government officials from Social Development Glory Morake and her colleague Pamela Hendriks attended and was highly impressed by the quality of the work that was presented by Founding Director of HBF, Monja Boonzaier.
“We were impressed with the tremendous work HBF is doing for our communities and we hope to have a long-lasting relationship” said Glory Morake.
Monja Boonzaier, founding director, said: “I could not have been more proud to see principals and teachers from ECD and youth organisations such as Nanga Vhutsilo, Leratong Hub, Kliptown Youth Project and local Day care centres from Klipspruit, Kliptown and Dobsonville attending our event. Twenty-five participants completed application forms where 10 will be selected to join the training program starting in March this year.”