Lisa Isaacs
A GROUP of young children keenly tucked into their meal of fish breyani at yesterday’s launch of the roll out of a feeding scheme set to accommodate 300 youngsters at Early Childhood Development centres (ECD) in Grabouw.
The endeavour will provide children with breakfast and lunch at 12 ECD centres through the Peninsula School Feeding Association (PSFA) in partnership with the Elgin Learning Foundation (ELF) and Sozo Foods.
The centres, all unregistered, will also begin a process of registration with help from the Department of Social Development.
PSFA manager Amelia Koeries said the centres were identified as situated within an area of need.
“The centres are in very impoverished areas in Grabouw; some of the centres are in wendy houses and others in RDP houses.
“For most of these children there isn’t anything to eat at home, and so here they can receive a meal.”
She said with the food provided through donor funds, children would receive a meal of fortified maize meal for breakfast, and fish, soya mince, lentils, samp, beans, fruit and vegetables for lunch.
Koeries said many parents were seasonal farmworkers and would not be able to afford centre fees, let alone a healthy lunch for their children.
“The first 1 000 days of a child’s life are of the upmost importance.
“From the ages of 2 to 5, we still have a chance of remedying nutritional deficiencies.”
Nomathemba Buyani, a social worker at the Social Development Department, said the centres would now also begin a process of registration.
She added that the department faced a growing trend of mushrooming unregistered ECD centres in the area, aided by poor infrastructure planning for the accommodation of children.
“There are more than 20 of these centres in Grabouw. We need this kind of initiative in areas such as this. All stakeholders must be involved in these initiatives. When these children are fed, they have the capacity to learn and grow,” she said.
Professor Spinnler Benade, a nutritional adviser on the project, said: “Physically and mentally, these children are left disadvantaged. We have seen with the correct nutrients given to children at a young age, improved concentration, improved performance at school and general better behaviour.”
Maritza Geldenhuys, of Kammaland Playschool, one of the benefiting centres, said the feeding scheme was a welcome initiative. Eleven of her children will have a breakfast and supper.
“Some of these children are not so fortunate and do not have food. Sometimes they will be brought to the centre early in the morning with two slices of bread and nothing on, and that must feed them for the entire day. This (initiative) will benefit their mental and physical development. It is great to be part of this.”