A teacher reads a book to children at Mzingisi daycare

LEARNING FROM THE VERY BEGINNING – EARLY-CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT

SAMARA FOUNDATION

Our project partner and founder of the Samara Foundation, Louisa Feiter, is our most important point of contact in the field of early-childhood development. Her work focuses on the very poor rural region of the Eastern Cape of South Africa, where only a few organizations are active and where there is great need for support. 
Two daycare providers at a continuing-education workshop by the Samara Foundation in South Africa

Day-care centers there are often operated by women from local communities who manage the child care. The Samara Foundation assists these women by offering continuing-education content for the child minders and financing maintenance work on the buildings which are often in need of upkeep. Louisa Feiter is our contact with these day-care centers, and the Umckaloabo Foundation has been supporting her since 2017; she has a major impact on the young people and families of the region and serves as a safe haven for many children.

JABULANI DAYCARE CENTER

The Jabulani Daycare Center in Cape Town is truly a project of the heart for its founder, Cynthia Isaacs, who took on caring for the first child as a spontaneous decision. 
A teacher reads a book to children at Mzingisi daycare.

Word got out quickly, and soon she was taking care of so many children that she gave up her job and turned her home into a daycare center. Today, she and two daycare teachers look after around 30 children who enjoy the best possible early education with the simplest means, and they can enter school well-prepared and with self-confidence. We have been supporting the Jabulani Daycare Center for many years. In 2025, we made a commitment together with the Peter and Luise Hager Foundation to give this initiative the ability to plan its important work securely in the years ahead. 

 
The Montessori daycare center Lavel'ilanga offers children in Walmer Township good empowering early childhood development.

MASIFUNDE EDUCATION CENTER

Early-childhood education is also an integral part of the work of the Masifunde Education Center in Walmer Township. In early 2025 we were able to dedicate a state-of-the-art daycare center here based on Montessori principles; the site was built with the help of the Umckaloabo Foundation, among others. At this center, the children from the Township can enjoy not only playful learning but a sense of esteem and orientation.

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