November 2022 Overview

Adopt a South African Preschool funds toy libraries at training centers, so that disadvantaged children have the foundation to succeed in school and in life.  Preschoolers learn through play, but countless children of color in South Africa do not have this opportunity.  Instead, they spend their formative years watching non-educational television in informal, overcrowded daycares while their mothers work, look for work, or beg.

Daycare owners are entrepreneurs who started offering low-cost childcare in desperation to make a living for themselves and their own children.  Once they register at an ASAP supported resource center, they are called teachers and their settings are called preschools.  Many have not completed high school and are thrilled to follow a curriculum and be mentored in Early Childhood Development (ECD) by coaches from our partner nonprofit, PEN.  They learn how each educational toy, game, and puzzle activates cognitive, social, and physical capacities. 

Founded in February 2020, ASAP donors have funded six resource centers which now serve 121 preschools, 550 owners and staff, and 5,127 children.  Our greatest need is to expand the resources and coaches for each center so as to serve 30 preschools, and then open more! 

ECD matters because success in life is predicted by success in first grade, and ninety percent of brain development happens by age 5. Essential life skills form naturally, but only in a safe, caring and stimulating environment.  One in four South African 5-year-olds suffer from the physical and cognitive stunting caused by malnutrition.  Our preschools provide meals.

While the playing field of access to preschool education is uneven, ASAP’s simple, effective model fills a critical gap, enabling women and children to flourish.ASAP donors are lending a hand as South Africa overturns the harsh legacy of apartheid and intergenerational poverty.