Childrens Eco Training
Games in Hoedspruit

Children's Eco Training is an association incorporated under section 21 Reg.

Eco Villages, developed in partnership with our sponsor Make A Difference Leadership Foundation, are the entry point in developing a broad-based relationship with a school. Eco Villages consist of a large vegetable garden plus refurbished classrooms with vibrant murals for conservation-based lessons. Once a school has shown that they value their Eco Village, Eco Children works with the school to improve essential infrastructure such as libraries, kitchens, toilets and school halls, transforming them into places that are conducive to learning. While working on various projects in our community it became evident that many of the children in our adopted schools did not own a school uniform. The Kit-a-Kid initiative was born from this need: through donations and fundraising, children are supplied with a complete school uniform. The third phase of whole school development is working with our adopted schools to build the capacity of educators. We run regular and ongoing capacity building workshops for Level R educators as well as maths workshops, both areas of great need. Eco Children facilitates workshops with different eco-based themes for children and adults to teach them about the environment they live in. We work with our adopted primary schools to identify talented learners for our Bursary programme. Through Kit-a-Kid, Eco Children has supplied over 2,000 children with new uniforms, instilling a sense of self-worth and pride. Not only does this enable them to attend school but the ultimate goal is to empower them by improving their self-confidence and self-worth by taking pride in both their appearance and their work. By providing children with something as simple as a school uniform you encourage them to not only take pride in their work but also their appearance. The affiliation was formed on the basis of MAD Leadership Foundation and Southern Cross granting scholarships to promising students and Eco Children selecting talented learners from our adopted schools and mentoring them and monitoring their progress. The programme allows talented learners to receive a first-class education. In addition to MAD Leadership Foundation bursaries, Eco Children also supports a number of other talented youngsters through our bursary programme, funded by donations. Two students matriculated from Southern Cross Schools in 2013 and have moved on to tertiary education. A further nine promising youngsters are currently attending the school as part of our bursary programme. Eco Children acts as mentor to the learners and shares financial responsibility.