AID grant agreement no. 674-0302-G-SS-3106-00 with the Ekuhlaleni Community Preschool Project to provide training to adults who care for children and to strengthen its own institutional capacity, improve its ability to upgrade and replicate its model of community and home-based preschool programs for children

The grant will also contribute to Ekuhlaleni"s own institutional development. Ekuhlaleni is an independent, community-based, woman-managed NGO which trains educare childminders and playgroup leaders in several of the most neglected and impoverished townships in Cape Province. Training in educare is holistic in nature, covering early childhood physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development, as well as creative activities, and is accompanied by nutrition and health services and basic management training. Currently, Ekuhlaleni works with 34 groups and trains over 100 educare providers using materials from the Early Learning Resource Unit, another Cape Town-based NGO involved in educare. Parents whose children attend participating educare centers pay as much of the tuition as they can afford and many contribute their time or skills to the centers. Grant funds will enable Ekuhlaleni to establish a new central office, provide management training to its staff, train approximately 100 parents and child care providers annually to operate educare centers, provide equipment to the centers, and participate in conferences and networks with other groups in the early childhood field.