early literacy

CHANGES EVERYTHING

Over 850,000 children under the age of 6 are living in poverty in the predominantly rural province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa .

Even Ground is transforming the lives of children in Sub-Saharan Africa by partnering with community-based organizations driving high-impact nutrition, education, and youth empowerment solutions.

EVEN GROUND

Literacy is a gateway to learning and gives children a fair chance at breaking the cycle of poverty. Yet 81% of children in South Africa cannot read in any language.

Supporting children’s learning journey by developing literacy skills early is critical. Strong foundations provide children with the tools they need to reach their full potential.

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GIFT OF LITERACY

YOU can enable Early Literacy for children in KwaZulu-Natal! Children learn to read in many stages, from recognizing letters to understanding the meaning of a story. To ensure success in reading, our local partners start offering locally-driven literacy interventions to children from as early as birth - building the blocks for strong readers.

By donating to Even Ground, you can change the course of a child’s life.

BABIES

The first 1,000 days of a baby’s development are a critical and sensitive phase of development. During this time, a child undergoes rapid physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development that lays the foundation for future learning.

Yet many babies do not receive adequate stimulation. In 2023, our partners are encouraging the first steps towards literacy for 424 babies in rural KwaZulu-Natal by upskilling their guardians to communicate frequently with their babies and offer activities that build skills such as crossing the midline and hand-eye coordination.

These activities enable babies to reach their developmental milestones and lay the foundations for reading, writing, and communicating. They achieve this through Early Literacy workshops, individual home visits, laddering activities, and local group playgroups.

At Siyakwazi last year, there was a 94% improvement in babies reaching their developmental milestones.

Siyabonga provides programmes where children can build essential foundational early literacy skills such as recognizing sounds, experiencing rhymes, manipulating objects, interacting with others, and exploring storybooks.

PRE-SCHOOL

By age five, 90% of a child’s brain is already developed, so ensuring that children attend a preschool for ages 3-5 is essential for supporting their learning development. Unfortunately, more than half of children in KZN do not have access to early learning centers.

Even Ground and our partner organizations are supporting 2,043 children through pre-school programs in 2023, ensuring they will be on track to start school .

PRIMARY SCHOOL

Nearly all rural schools lack skilled teachers and adequate resources, and only 7% of rural South African schools have functional libraries.

Even Ground is supporting literacy interventions run through our partner organizations to help 1060 children learn to decode, gain phonological awareness, and develop a love of reading through access to books in their home language.

 

At Thanda last year, children borrowed 12,414 books through their mobile library.

more about

EVEN GROUND

We envision a future for Sub-Saharan Africa where every child thrives.

Even Ground, a U.S. 501c3 non-profit organization, connects compassionate donors with a strong desire for change to grassroots initiatives in Southern Africa. We work alongside local partners to change children’s lives through a holistic approach encompassing nutrition, education, and youth empowerment programs.

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Even Ground partners serve 6,652 children and 5,131 families.


Our partners are based within the communities they serve, allowing them to have a deep understanding of what the community needs and how best to approach the situation in a culturally relevant and respectful way. This paves the way for the greatest potential for impact in the community where each of the organizations is based.

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PARTNERS

Our relationship with our Partners is unique because we work together long-term to grow and support programs that catalyze change.

Our goal is to support these organizations and, through increasing financial investments, capacity development, and knowledge sharing as they grow, we aim to build their sustainability and amplify their impact into the future.

Separated by distance, we can do nothing alone, but working together, we can change lives.

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