Centre for Early Childhood Development (CECD)

The CECD is a non-profit organization committed to working for quality early childhood development for the children of South Africa. The organisation offers training, resources, and support to both individuals and other organisations aimed at improving the field of early childhood development. The CECD works specifically to develop individual’s skills and provide parents with information on the development of children. On a larger scale, CECD works with communities to provide assistance in early childhood development projects and with other organizations to improve their efficiency and effectiveness.

Some of the ECD programmes offered include teacher development training, and assistance with the registration process to make ECD centres sustainable. Other skill workshops and training programmes they offer to teachers and parents focus on HIV/AIDS, literacy, basic life skills, parent involvement in education, and effective use of educational equipment and technology.

The CECD has been a large contributor in fostering ECD in Flamingo Heights by funding the building of Little Paradise, providing training sessions for the teachers, as well as providing many other resources for utilization by the governing body. Eric Atmore, the CEO and Founder of CECD (also a professor at the University of Cape Town), along with his daughter Sarah Atmore, have been crucial supporters of Little Paradise. The CECD has also been successful at making other crèches sustainable by working directly with the community in tailoring programmes to their specific needs. Together with the CECD as our sponsor, we worked to develop a management plan and foster an effective governing body for Little Paradise.

Early Learning Resource Unit (ELRU)

ELRU is a non-government organisation focusing on early childhood development. They use a “population based approach” in considering the entire community to determine needs. ELRU’s ultimate goal is “universal coverage” in giving every child access to quality ECD. They intervene through home efforts, community programmes, centre development, and training programmes.

ELRU is conveniently located just down the road from Flamingo Heights. Cathy, the Principal of Little Paradise, has been utilizing ELRU’s training to develop Little Paradise’s learning programmes. Terrance November works at ELRU and initially helped Cathy with editing the constitution for Little Paradise. It was established that ELRU will be Cathy’s main contact for early learning programme development, a requirement for formal registration.

Community Organisation Resource Centre (CORC)

CORC is a non-government organisation that works in support of community-based organisations wanting to work for themselves. Their main efforts include support of informal settlements organised around their own resources and capacities. Issues on which they focus include land, evictions, upgrading, basic services, and citizenship. As noted on their website, “CORC’s interventions are designed to enable these communities to learn from one another and to create solidarity and unity in order to be able to broker deals with formal institutions especially the State.”

CORC was a main contributor in the construction of the crèche by providing designs, managing materials, and frequent involvement in making sure construction was carried out correctly. Thandeka Tshabalala was the CORC representative we were in contact with most frequently.

Informal Settlement Network (ISN)

The ISN includes community leaders from informal settlements all across South Africa. ISN is developed around their “core principals of learning by doing, working with organised communities, building self-reliance, and building on community assets and internal capacities.” Their primary objectives include equipping communities with skills and knowledge to become unified and self-sufficient, allowing them to create meaningful change. The ISN also influences the city government to consult communities in development plans as an opportunity for learning. This fosters the opportunity for “ordinary” people to become more involved in the development of their community.

Melanie Manuel and Terrance Johnson played large roles in upgrading Flamingo Heights from the beginning stages of the process. Terrance was on site every day as construction manager for both the reblocking of the community and the construction of the crèche. Melanie worked more with motivation and advice for enhancing community participation and completion of the projects. We worked with both Terrance and Melanie in developing an effective governing body for the crèche and used their insight on community dynamics.

The South African Shack/Slum Dwellers International Alliance (SA SDI)

The South African Shack/Slum Dwellers International Alliance is a partnership of community organisations and NGOs consisting of CORC, FEDUP, Informal Settlement Network (ISN), and the uTshani Fund. The SA SDI Alliance was an important implementing organisation involved in the upgrading of Flamingo Heights.

Other Resources

Throughout our time in Cape Town, we had many other resources to help complete the project. The Department of Social Development, the City of Cape Town, other CTPC teams, and our advisors played substantial roles in collaborating to finish the project and get the results we wanted.