Capricorn Group Holding’s employees donated 250 handmade dolls to an organisation that specialises in early childhood development, the Amos Meerkat Syllabus Project. 

The event took place in Windhoek.

 “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,” said Marlize Horn, Capricorn’s spokesperson.

The Group understands that the first few years of a child’s life are critical for their development. Hence, educational toys will assist them with communication, physical growth and social, emotional and cognitive development as they begin to make sense of their surroundings.

Capricorn Group’s communication and stakeholder practitioner Grace Luvindao said in an interview with New Era that ‘’kids are not taught by writing, but through playing. So ideally, you need to have tangible things.”

She added: “We don’t just believe in giving money to organisations, but we want our employees to be able to give back. Sometimes, we go out and paint schools and fix playgrounds.”

Amos Meerkat Syllabus (AMS) partnered with Capricorn Group’s #Changemaker (employee volunteerism) programme to equip existing non-governmental preschools on farms and in farming communities in Namibia with an updated curriculum to ensure that the learners would be educationally ready for Grade 1.

Magdalena Shamalaza, a monitor at AMS in Windhoek, told New Era “we visit pre-schools to see how teachers are doing with the curriculum, and help them follow up with what they were trained for.”

She said the doll is part of the curriculum under the theme ‘my body’ to teach the children how to protect and take care of their bodies.

AMS project manager Alet van der Merwe said no two dolls look the same, to reflect the fact that every person has their own features and personality.

“Apart from the syllabus, we also do trauma healing with our teachers, and teach them how to deal with children who are traumatised at home,’’ said Van der Merwe.

AMS intends to reach 5 000 preschool children every year across the country from Luderitz in the deep south to Katima Mililo in the far north-east of Namibia.