Seibo Partner NURSERY Schools
Seibo-partner Nursery schools, primarily located in the Chilomoni area in Southern Malawi, provide 10% of their allocated nursery places for free to the most needy children in their community, under the Seibo Kids Programme.

On May 26th, we were delighted therefore to be able to provide an additional 8 children with free nursery education at 3 x different locations, namely Bachi, Fatihu Deen & Agape Nurseries. As a result, at the end of May 2022 the Seibo Kids programme was providing free early years education to 78 children (45 girls & 33 boys). However challenges remain. We have identified a further 26 children in need and whilst our nursery partners have up to 22 places available, in all cases it is proving difficult to find a place near the child’s place of residence.

SEIBO KIDS Home Visits
In this period, the Seibo Malawi Team also conducted home visits for children enrolled on the Seibo Kids Programme, mainly to check how the children are doing at nursery but also to find out how parents & guardians are supporting their child at home. What follows is a short summary of 4 visits in May and subsequent home visits in June primarily to check on children who previously had early signs of malnutrition.

MAY 2022 Home Visits

– Prisca (4) started school in March at Freedom nursery. Prisca’s mom has recently started a charcoal business but it seems many people have had a similar idea and she is now considering other options. She mentions that Prisca has begun to recite the alphabet and even shown interest in writing. The team noted how Prisca’s mom was involved in helping Prisca learn at home also.

– Leticia (3) started school in March, also at Freedom nursery. Leticia lives with her parents who survive through doing part-time jobs. The parents were insistent they fed Leticia well, yet it was clear she was losing weight. Unfortunately our team’s assessment of Leticia’s health was quite alarming and we have proposed taking her and her mom to the hospital for a proper medical evaluation.

– Alice (5) started school way back in August 2018 and is a student at Sulema nursery. Alice lives with her grandparents and her main caregiver is her grandmother. The family’s financial situation has improved now that Alice’s granny is selling charcoal burners and the family can now afford food. The team also noted that Alice was thriving at school.

– Zaithwa started school in December last year and is at Agape nursery. She lives with her mother and partner who has a job as a welder. Unfortunately due to the erratic nature of power supply the family are not earning a living wage. Zaithwa’s mom promised to not withhold her child from school on days when the family cannot give her money for a lunch.

JUNE 2022 Home Visits

– Gladys (3) started school in February and attends the Pillar of Light nursery. She can already partly recite the alphabet, sign the national anthem and knows a few words of English. The family of 5 survive from the sale of offal. While they eat 3 meals a day, they admit there is no balance in the family’s diet which is of concern when it comes to Gladys.

– Yotamu (4) started school in March and attends Faeza nursery. He lives in an extended family of 8 people. The family eat 2 meals a day, though each meal consists of only two food groups. Yotamu’s mom is often sick but when her health permits she sells sweet potatoes. Yotamu is doing well at school and is supported at home.

– Yona (6) started school in January and attends Bizzy Beez nursery. Born with a walking disability, he was not in school for most of his early years as his parents’ could not afford the fees. The father works in a shop receiving a small salary of MK30000 per month, of which MK10000 goes on rent.

– Alicia (4) started school in February and attends Bachi nursery. She lives in a house of 16 people, comprising 3 families. Her mother sells groundnuts to earn income. Although Alicia eats 3 meals a day, she is not receiving a balanced diet. At the time of growth monitoring our team noticed a loss in weight though this may be attributed to the fact that she was unwell during our last visit. Alicia is supported at home with schoolwork.

– Zaithwa (4) started school in March 2021 and attends Abundant Life nursery. She lives in a family of 6 in a 2-bedroom house and while the family manage 3 meals a day once again there are concerns about a balanced diet. At school Zaithwa is doing well and tells her parents a lot about what she is learning at school.

– Favour started school in March 2021 and attends Tikwere nursery. Favour is doing well at school, she can introduce herself, recite the months of the year and count numbers from 1-30. Favour’s mother sells second-hand clothes & sugarcane and her father is a tailor. The family manage 2 meals a day, usually going without breakfast.

– Ivy (6) started school in 2018 and attends Miracle nursery. Ivy lives in a household of 7 people. Her mother works as a nursery teacher and the family manage 3 meals a day though once again there are issues when it comes to a balanced diet.

Seibo NURSERY PARTNERS
In addition to home visits, the team at Seibo Malawi also make monitoring visits to nursery school partners to whom we are contracted to provide school meals. Visits in June shone a light on some data collection issues at Abundant Life & Bachi nurseries in particular. Our team are working closely to ensure better record-keeping is kept or a formal warning will be issued.

JUNE NURSERY ‘SEIBO KIDS’ ALLOCATION MEETING

On the 21st of June, a meeting was held at the newly named Mother Teresa Catholic Nursery School (previously known as Mother Teresa Children’s Centre). The meeting was attended by 10 allocation committee members, 4 members of Mother Teresa along with the Day Care Manager and a Seibo Malawi team member.

6 application forms were reviewed. 2 children were assigned a free nursery place at MTCNS and another 2 children were added to the Seibo Kids list of eligible applicants. The remaining 2 applicants did not meet the selection criteria. The 2 children now eligible for free nursery places at a Seibo partner nursery are as follows:

– Prosper lives in a family of 6 people. Both of Prosper’s parents dropped out of school and now work doing part-time jobs. At one time Prosper attended Agape nursery but the family were unable to afford to pay school fees hence they requested support from the Seibo Kids Programme.

– Covenant is an only child and lives with his parents. The family depend on piece works for income and the house they live in was heavily damaged by cyclone Ana and is one of the many challenges facing their family.

Parent Education & Support TRAINING

Over 7 days in late June the Seibo Malawi team with support from the Blantyre Social Welfare Office undertook training in the area of ECD Parent Education. From experience the team identified that many parents lack skills in providing care and educational support for their children. The purpose therefore of the training was to empower the Seibo Malawi team to be able to acquire skills to help parents in this situation. At the end of the training, the Seibo Malawi team were able to:

– better guide discussions for Parents/Guardians using illustrated cards
– able to run information programmes useful for Parents/Guardians
– develop, improvise and adapt materials for training/informing Parents/Guardians
– advocate for the right of children and mobilize community support for Parents/Guardians

The training modules covered were:
– Laying the foundation for a healthy start
– Bonding & attachment
– Children learning & transition
– Children’s rights & community development of ECD Programmes
– Developmental domains & thematic play

It is team’s hope that as a result of the above training, albeit for seven days, they can start planning parental forums to target parents whose children attend Seibo-partnered CBCCs.