Our 30th Birthday Children's Party
As part of our year-long 30th Birthday celebrations, we hosted a children’s party for the pre-schoolers around Grahamstown. We invited each pre-school to bring along an activity or two which the other pre-schools attending could enjoy.
Although the weather was very cold and went from sunny to drizzle throughout the event the children came out to enjoy the day. Our host for the day was the well-known radio host of the popular B.E.E (Breakfast Eyondlayo Ek’seni) Show on Umhlobo Wenene FM, Putco Mafani. His show is the most popular across the black communities because of his humour and merry personality. He was singing and dancing with the children and did not disappoint in making the day fun and entertaining for everyone present. Also on the line-up was the Archie Mbolekwa Choir, a marimba band, jumping castles, men on stilts, etc. There was singing, dancing, playing, laughter and an all-round warm atmosphere at the cold Miki Yili stadium.
Mrs Ruth Nombewu, the organiser, worked very hard to make sure that the day was fun-filled and enjoyable for all the children. The SAPS transported the children from their schools to the stadium. All the children got a lunch pack with juice and fruit after all the festivities. A very big THANK YOU goes to everyone who gave CSD a helping hand to make the day a success. The work we do would be meaningless without the support of the Grahamstown community.
Picture: Children singing along with Putco Mafani
CSD Hosts National Science Week
National Science Week, an initiative of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) is a countrywide celebration of science involving various stakeholders and/or role players conducting science-based activities. It took place from 01 August until 05 August in all nine provinces simultaneously at multiple sites per province.
Previous NSW activities usually focused mainly on primary and secondary school children and neglected the very young. This year the Centre for Social Development at Rhodes University was chosen to host activities that will engage with the ECD sector of our community. The ECD phase is the most important development phase in a child’s life. It is during this phase that children learn by interaction with their environment. There is an inherent motivation to learn and one of the aims of education in early years is to foster a spirit of curiosity and learning. Something that if not developed then, will never be developed in later years. Rather than being an event, science is more about a process, it involves a way of thinking about the world and not just merely observing how things are happening.
A puppet show focusing on the effects of global warming and its consequences was part of the various interactive activities that were held at the St. Mary’s Development and Care Centre in Grahamstown during the weeklong event. Over 600 children attended the event and had loads of fun singing and playing; stimulating their curiosity. It was a pleasure watching them learn while having fun.
CSD at WordFest
The National Arts Festival, now in its 37th year, has proved its sustainability and has grown to be one of the leading arts festivals in southern Africa. Its objectives are to deliver excellence; encourage innovation and development in the arts by providing a platform for both established and emerging South African artists; create opportunities for collaboration with international artists; and build new audiences. Thousands of people have descended on Grahamstown to experience 10 days of Amazing. On the Fringe programme, Wordfest is a festival of language and literature.
Some of the Self-Help Groups initiated and coordinated by CSD are exhibiting the wares at Wordfest. The Se...read more
The Need for ECD
The 2011 Annual National Assessment (ANA) results were released by the Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshegka earlier this week. The ANA is the most comprehensive assessment of literacy and numeracy skills in young learners ever conducted in South Africa. More than six-million Foundation Phase learners (GrR-3) and intermediate phase learners (Grd 4-6) attending government schools around the country wrote the ANA. The results paint a bleak picture for the future of these young learners. On...read more
It's a Go for Debenek!
In July 2008 CSD undertook to train 20 ECD practitioners (Level 4) in Debenek, Keiskamma Hoek, about 130 km from Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape. Due to the distances and the extreme poverty and unemployment in this area, CSD did the training at a Community Hall in the town. This entailed the CSD facilitator travelling to Debenek once a month to conduct contact sessions lasting for 5 days. In addition these practitioners had the opportunity to visit well-functioning ECD centres in Grahamstown...read more
A Night of Story Telling from Zinzi's Blog
An important part of any organization involved in quality distance teaching and learning is a reliable vehicle to get them to their students. On-site support visits form part of the assessments of CSD’s early childhood development and community development courses and facilitators have to sometimes travel as far as Mthatha.
Nobody knew this better than Mrs Thelma Henderson who started CSD 30 years ago. Her only criteria when CSD was buying a vehicle was that it should seat three “mammas...read more
