In September 2023, I travelled to South Africa for a three week-long project, supporting the Knysna Education Trust (KET) to develop an new curriculum for preschools across the region. 

KET is an NPO based in the Garden Route, South Africa. Since 1993, KET has worked to improve provisions for Early Childhood Development (ECD) in the local region, targeting children aged 0-6. In its mission statement, KET pledges to:

• Provide SETA (Sector Education and Training Authority) accredited training to ECD teachers to ensure that age, language, and developmentally appropriate lessons and assessment methods are consistently implemented.
• Rollout the NUMBA mathematics programme and FONIX literacy programme in regional preschools.
• Maintain nutritional support programmes.
• Widen access to preschools for the most vulnerable children by facilitating a free payment support programme, linking sponsors to qualifying parents, through the Adopt-a-Child’s Education project.
• Implement electronic document storage capacity for all regional preschools.

My work only plays a small part in KET's wider mission, but some of my findings (presented in the PDF above!) illustrated a fascinating snapshot into the complexities of humanitarian project delivery, including maintaining communications with far-off locations, establishing meaningful cross-cultural/language relationships, and fulfilling the demands of multiple stakeholders - sometimes with conflicting interests. 

I will be heading back to South Africa next year to monitor the delivery of my curriculum, aiming to ensure its sustainability and efficacy. I had a fantastic time this summer, and can't wait to be back!