Our Impact

OUR IMPACT

Sustainable, compliant creches and confident, skilled edu-care leaders can deliver better education and care and make the promise of quality early childhood education a reality.

UNLOCKING potential

Quality early childhood development is one of the most powerful tools to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty. Almost all creches in low-income communities are run and owned by women. They not only provide essential education and care, but also create livelihoods for the owners, teachers and staff.

These edu-care leaders are powerful yet invisible agents of change in their communities. Akwande Ukukhanya unlocks their potential to create a brighter future for them, the children in their care, and their communities.

The program helped me change the way I was doing things. I now know how to keep records, I know how to communicate with my customers, and I know the importance of building my confidence.

- Esther (53)

Input

The programme inputs include funding, business and personal development training resources, qualified trainers and a community business analyst who provides business mentorship and coaching.

Output

Creche owners attend high quality business skills training, receive personalised mentorship and personal development support, connect with peer support networks, and can access business, compliance and ECD resources.

Short term outcomes

Creche owners improve their business skills, increase their confidence and develop a support network.

Long term outcomes

Creches improve their compliance with ECD regulations, business performance and sustainability.

Impact

Improved sustainability of women-owned township businesses. Better early childhood development outcomes.

BEYOND TRAINING INTO PRACTICE

Both the ECD and the township business sectors have been flooded with training and development initiatives - many of which fail to have a lasting impact.

Akwande Ukukhanya takes inspiration from the world's leading social enterprise incubators to combine personal development, business skills, peer support and mentorship into a programme with concrete evidence of behaviour change.

The program helped me change the way I was operating. I now have staff contracts; I know how to market my business using digital media. My staff knows about customer care and the importance of keeping records.

- Violet(50)