Because of the importance of early childhood education and interventions for children facing multiple forms of vulnerability, we have focused our efforts on support for child development centers in the communities where we work. These centers provide children with critical educational and emotional support, as well as providing healthy meals, health checks, and other essential services. The centers also help relieve the burden of care on families, allowing older siblings to remain in school and caregivers to seek work. In our model, child development centers also serve as key sites for other forms of service provision, including afterschool tutoring for older children, income generation programs, and health education.
Thembanathi believes that economic opportunities for women are a critical component of care and support in communities affected by HIV, and a key strategy for HIV prevention. Thus, we also support several income generation projects in KwaZulu-Natal by providing a market for the jewelry and other crafts they make. After providing the crafters with a fair wage for their work, we use 100% of the proceeds from the product sales to support our programs for children in the region. Through buying these crafts, you help to support families provide for their own children, and also fund early education and intervention programs for those young people most in need.