JAMSA

Adequate and correct nutrition during the first five years of a child’s life are particularly important for the development of the child’s brain, providing the base for the brain’s development and functioning, directly impacting on how children develop learning skills as well as social and emotional abilities. In an effort to address and prevent malnutrition at the Masikhule-mentored ECD centres we have, under the guidance of a registered Dietitian, developed a Best Nutrition Programme to ensure the children at these centres have an optimal nutritional base from which to grow, develop and learn. For more information or to assist with funding a Workshop, please see our website: https://masikhule.org/nutrition-programme/

We have also been fortunate enough to partner with JAM SA and The Lunchbox Fund to facilitate feeding schemes in 28 of the Early Learning Centres we mentor (24 JAM SA and 4 The Lunchbox Fund).

“When entering a community, JAM SA begins with food, the most basic of needs, providing a highly nutritious porridge to the children who attend JAM-supported Early Childhood Development (ECD) and care centres. Every day the children enjoy a Red Bowl of JAM porridge, which provides them with 75% of their daily macro- and micro-nutrient requirements. The porridge, known as CSS+ (Corn Soya Sugar Blend) consists of 65% corn, 25% soya, 10% sugar and is fortified with micro- and macro-nutrients. It costs R50 to feed a child for a month, R600 to feed a child for a year. JAM SA is currently feeding over 90, 000 pre-school children in more than 2000 centres in 9 provinces across the country (Gauteng, Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Free State, North West, Northern Cape, Free State and Mpumalanga).” JAM SA – www.jamsa.co.za

” Children who don’t have enough to eat cannot work towards a proper education. Without a proper education, their future prospects are severely limited. School nutrition programs offer the assurance of a daily, nourishing meal to needy school and pre-school children in vulnerable communities in South Africa. We are uncompromising in adhering to best practice principles to ensure the delivery of nutritionally high-value, delicious meals. Our simple intervention nourishes a child’s body for growth and health, a child’s mind with the ability to concentrate and learn, and a child’s outlook with hope to rise above the cycle of poverty and hunger. It also provides a behavioural incentive for children to attend school, as well as an economic incentive for their impoverished and/or unemployed caretakers to keep them there.” The Lunchbox Fund – www.thelunchboxfund.org