A Grahamstown-based community project has won the Absa award for the Best Child Development Training and Intervention Programme in South Africa.
A Grahamstown-based community project has won the Absa award for the Best Child Development Training and Intervention Programme in South Africa.
The Masibambane Community Project is run by Agata Runowicz from the Department of Health and the Association for People with Physical Disabilities, and Dr Lisa Saville Young, from the Psychology Department at Rhodes University.
The project sees Psychology student from Rhodes University working with a child with disabilities. Their visits, which happen once a week during the term, teaches the students how to work with children with disabilities. They do this under the supervision of a social worker a social worker, a physiotherapist, occupational therapists, speech therapists and psychologists, with the help of the child’s primary caregiver.
“We are thrilled that this award recognizes the valuable partnerships that are forged between therapists, students and caregivers in facilitating a thoughtful approach to encourage the development of children with disabilities in our local community,” Young said.
The Masibambane Community Engagement Project beat more than 4 500 other applicants for the Early Childhood Development Award.
The award comes with R60 000 in prize money.
Runowicz said, “The money from the award is likely to be spent on further training for caregivers and students in the special needs of children with disabilities. In addition, much needed assistive devices will be bought, especially positioning and mobility aids for children to use at home.”
The awards came about in 1999 when Absa and the South African Congress for Early Childhood Development partnered to offer support to a leadership development programme. The Head of Citizenship Africa at Barclays Africa Group, Gideon Serfontein said.
“We are honoured to have contributed in the provision of quality Early Childhood Development in South Africa. We have impacted the lives of practitioners by assisting them to acquire qualifications and learning material for the children. We are pleased to have recognised the vital importance of investing in early childhood development and partnered with the right people to help our nation prosper.”
