Early Child Development
Masibumbane Development Organization (MDO) has established the Community Early Childhood
Development (ECD) Network in Duncan Village, East London. In collaboration with our sister
organization, South Africa Partners, we have developed a model to improve the quality and promote
the sustainability of centre-based care in resource-poor environments. Since 2014, we have worked
with a cluster of eight centers that share the goal of transforming themselves from minimally
provisioned, unregistered places of care into true centers of learning and healthy early development.
Our approach to ECD support is collaborative, identifying resources that already exist within the
local community, working with each center to identify both their strengths and their needs, then
coordinating access and monitoring the delivery of needed inputs. Beyond a coordinating role,
we maximize impact and promote sustainability through mentoring, helping to bridge the gap
between the provision of training, materials and other inputs and the translation of those investments
into better center management, better classroom practice and better child outcomes in the
long term. Our approach is also holistic, incorporating a health component to help ensure
adequate child nutrition, monitor child growth, and refer children for available services. We
evaluate our work at multiple points at both the environmental and child level to measure
effectiveness against our goals and objectives. Five of the original Network centres are now
registered with the Department of Social Development, accessing per child subsidies that will help
them sustain the progress they have made and continue to deliver higher quality care to some of
the highest-need children in the area.
Supported ECD Centres
Joyful Babies – Gompo
Siyazama Educare – Gompo Hall, Douglas Smith Highway
Sinoncedo Educare – D Section, Eziphunzana
Ukhanyo Educare – Eastbank, Vergenoeg
Second Creek – Second Creek, Parkside
Ikhwezi Daycare – C Section, Eziphunzana
ECD Partners
