The Capricorn Foundation has donated 250 knitted miniature dolls to the Amos Meerkat Syllabus (AMS) project, which aims to teach morals and teach young children to recognise and report abuse.
The AMS project requires thousands of these dolls each year for educational purposes at preschool centres.
AMS aims to provide an updated curriculum to existing non-governmental preschools in Namibian farms and farming communities that do not have a curriculum or whose current curriculum is not appropriate for their circumstances, ensuring that learners are educationally ready for Grade 1.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Marlize Horn, Capricorn Group’s Executive Officer for Brand and Corporate Affairs said that the educational dolls are only 11 cm high, “so children can easily put them in the tiny palms of their hands to remind them of how precious they are in the sight of their Creator, God”.
She said the dolls can easily be carried and tucked in their pockets and that the knitted dolls are durable making it last a long time.
“We are proud of our employees, in their role as ‘Changemakers’, for taking time during their holiday and using their own resources to make a difference in a child’s life. Our employee volunteerism through the Changemaker programme embodies our purpose of being Connectors of Positive Change,” she said.
According to Alet van der Merwe, National Coordinator of the Amos Meerkat Syllabus project, these miniature dolls have become a symbol of belonging and education for children living in informal settlements, as well as an opportunity to teach values, morals, and equip children to recognise abuse.
“I know that every stitch was made with love, and I know that every child who receives a doll will feel very special. We want to make sure that every child in our early childhood development centres has a doll, so we’ll keep collecting them,” she said.
She added that due to remote areas, long distances, a lack of teaching materials, a lack of knowledge, and a lack of appropriate means of transportation, many pre-schoolers do not have the opportunity to attend a facility that can assist them in becoming school ready and, ultimately, contributing citizens to Namibia’s economy.
According to her, this is a very specific and unique need that AMS is addressing by reaching 5 000 pre-school children across the country each year, from Lüderitz in the far south to Katima Mililo in the far north of Namibia.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
