FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S DESK
Second Quarter newsletter 2024

What a great privilege to work for an organisation of such calibre that recognises children who are either denied access or left behind by the education system and entire society for reasons ranging from social, economic, and otherwise. Children in the informal settlements of Khayelitsha are heavily burdened by so many challenges which they are not supposed to experience as children. To add to their load, they lack very basic play materials to stimulate their development milestones and enjoy their childhood free from fear.

This quarter has been one of those highly impactful seasons regarding our mandated
deliverables within our organisation, and for that, we are so grateful that God has sustained our work under such difficult working conditions and helped our facilitators and fieldworkers to deliver such quality educational outcomes that contribute towards children thriving by the age of 5 years. We believe that our learning programs deliver high quality, scalable, measurable and sustainable developmental milestones.

Quarterly reflections:

This quarter has been filled with lots of different activities as set out in our strategic plan, but what surprised us is that our team has over and above covered activities that are in and out of our scope but still tie up very closely with advocating for the rights of children.

SISO facilitators have shown commitment to go beyond the call of duty maximizing impact and good stewardship towards our donors and supporters. They have:
- gone an extra mile to send children to medical care facilities because parents have neglected their duties
- represented children in school meetings because parents weren’t available
- bought clothes for needy children out of their pockets, and many more activities. 

Quarter 2 has been amazing in terms of deliverables in all milestones that have been set, all were achieved with distinction. Starting from stimulation of young children under challenging learning environments, and the developmental milestones showed very positive skyrocketing improvements in all areas of development (See snapshot of one area of our PREGRRA Report below). This is our biggest contribution towards reducing the 40% of children who are not in any form of early learning and development.

Deliverable 2 is Training and Capacity Development. This was not only focusing on parents, caregivers, ECD facility practitioners but also to our team internally. The empowerment of parents through various interventions has made caregivers better carers of their children. ECD practitioners have also been introduced to computers in addition to their weekly teacher trainings, and our support staff monitors are happy with the progress in the ECD facilities. Our team members participated in different capacity development activities like teacher training, inclusive education training, First Aid training, governance training, fundraising, community development training, different online workshops etc, and the results are seen and observed on how our programs have improved and uplifted.

Deliverable 3 is linked to the toy library which has experienced a huge increase in the number of children attending this service. This has also been improved by our brand new school bus that was donated by our generous funders and individuals who have made their contributions.

Closing remarks:
In terms of our operations, our teams have done a great job. I would also like to commend the leadership of the organisation for putting extra effort in everything, making sure everything goes according to plans.

To close the quarter, we were surprised when both our Director and M&E Officer received the honour of being nominated as "Phenomenal Men" from one of Funders. This was a great honour and motivation to each employee. Thank you.

We are saddened to have to say goodbye to Ms Thembi Nxesi who is retiring, and thank her for her many year of service to the organisation. We wish her everything of the best for her future.

Last but not least, our team did an internal assessment of some of our young children to measure their development against basic benchmarks for their age. Here is a snapshot of the language development function results from our internal assessment - here you can see that children in the informal settlements have little exposure to animal sounds, struggle with identifying emotions (this may be linked to covid and mask use) and are not familiar with all colours (something we will ensure our teachers can focus on). 

We are grateful to serve our communities to prepare their children for formal schooling and one day, their careers. ​

Our hard-working School Bus is in action - such a wonderful privilege to have this vehicle to transport staff, learners, resources and food when we need to. How did we manage before?!
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Thank you to our amazing donors and friends for making this possible!

Thank you to the lovely girls of Wynberg Girls High School who partner with Sikhula Sonke ECD to provide sandwiches and fruit for our little learners once a month through their "bread spreads". This partnership has filled many hungry tummies with nutritious food. Here are some photos from Mandela Day where children learnt about Tata Mandela and enjoyed their sarmies. 
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#HonourBeforeHonours #WGHS #SISOinaction
#sisoreachingfamiliesandcommunities

Dear Ms Nxesi!!
 
RETIREMENT CONGRATULATORY LETTER.
 
It gives me great pleasure and joy to congratulate you on your retirement journey effective from 30th June 2024. 
 
Your retirement comes with mixed feelings though and a heavy heart to let you go after 14 years of excellent service within the organization. During your tenure as Sikhula Sonke’s Community Development Manager you have served with distinction at all levels. You have been the most incredible, sincere, devoted and dedicated employee. Your experience and wisdom will really be missed in our midst. We have had times when the organization relied on your instincts to make crucial decisions and all those emerged fruitful and successful. 
 
On behalf of the Board of Directors, Staff and most importantly our Beneficiaries that you served, we would like to wish you a very happy retirement full of blessings, fruitful times with your family and most importantly the best in any endeavors that you might decide to take in uplifting the communities. 
 
We would also like to thank you for indicating your availability on a part-time basis should an organization require your services, which is a sign of the great value that you put on the kind of work that we do. 
 
Please continue to support our efforts towards community development and putting the best interest of a child ahead of anything. 
 
All the best!!

Mdebuka Mthwazi
Executive Director: Sikhula Sonke ECD

​MY RETIREMENT
Its an honor and grace to have had a 14-year opportunity to work for this lovely and
amazing organisation called Sikhula Sonke. This organization has been like a home
filled with a loving and caring family. We had our joyous and challenging moments
but there is no place like home. Today time has come for me to part ways with
people that I have spent quite a long tin time and a strong bond. Yes, it is true I am
retiring, I have contributed my years of life in the public sector. I started working 40
years ago. I have mentored many people along the journey. I would like to give Glory
to the almighty God for the health, the grace and the privilege to serve the
underprivileged children in Khayelitsha. I thank the Sikhula Sonke board especially
my Executive Director Mdebuka Mthwazi (Enkosi Mjoli), who has played a huge and
excellent role in leading and mentoring me at the place of work and life in general.
Thank you the SISO line management for allowing me to mentor them, showing me
great respect and humility, you always in my mind. I cannot forget to thank The SISO
employees who have worked with me as a team to make this organization an
excellent one. The ECD forums, principals and practioners contributed to the great
experience that I will keep on sharing to those who need it. May the good Lord bless
Sikhula Sonke and the ECD Sector at large. Aluta Continua, see you around!!
Thembakazi Nxesi

We recently completed a one-week Fatherhood Training for men, in partnership with FAMSA (Families South Africa). This was a such a valuable week for all our participants and we are delighted to share that 27 men completed the training. 

Our Fatherhood programmes are growing and it is exciting to see men who are committed to family, to parenting and to child protection who are becoming advocates in the community.

World Play Day dawned cold but sunny, and lots of small excited people arrived at our annual picnic at Khayelitsha stadium, ready to play, learn and watch demonstrations. Our hardworking staff pulled out all the stops to make this a fantastic day out that has Child Protection at its heart.

A special shout out to Michael Maphongwana Clinic, Site B Day Hospital, City of Cape Town Health and Prof Matsaseng Foundation from Tygerberg Hospital for their medical assistance at our World Play Day Picnic. These amazing teams show up and care for our children and we really appreciate them.

We even got a mention on News24 - read their article here

​Sikhula Sonke continues to call on all to care for and protect our children. 

#emthonjeniplaygroups #sisochildprotection #sisoplayislearning #WorldPlayDay #ChildProtectionWeek

Congratulations to Mdebuka Mthwazi and Papama Mateza for their nomination as HCI Foundation Phenomenal Men 2024. We are so proud of you!

Read the nomination info here: 
https://www.hcifoundation.co.za/celebrating-mdebuka-mthwazi-a-beacon-of-hope/
www.hcifoundation.co.za/celebrating-a-phenomenal-man-papama-mateza/

In mid-March 35 ECD centres participated in four days of training facilitated by Joen of The Unlimited Child. Each participant received a toy kit for their centre.

It was a full and fun training time and each practitioner left equipped, encouraged and resourced to offer their best learning experiences for their students. A big thank you to our partners for supporting our ECD centres.
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#SISOchangemakers #sisochampion #sisoinaction #sisopartners