Our stories

The Mikhulu Child Development Trust is very excited to have been selected as one of HundrED’s Top 100 education innovation programmes for 2023. In October 2022, Kaathima Ebrahim, CEO of The Mikhulu Child Development Trust, travelled to Finland to attend the HundrED Innovation Summit and award ceremony. We hear about her reflections on this event, what it means for Mikhulu Trust and her thoughts on development more widely. 100 organisations selected by HundrED HundrED is an organisation that centres on education innovation. Every year, one hundred innovations or programmes are granted awards, highlighting their social impact on education. HundrED selects these [...]

Stephen Wallace is a freelance illustrator, living with his family in Pretoria. He has illustrated the most recent wordless picture-book for Mikhulu Child Development Trust, Lost and Found. Working from his little studio at home, Stephen sees himself as part of a wider move to embrace diverse languages and build social cohesion in South Africa. Drawing on experience Growing up in the small mining town of Carletonville, Stephen recalls drawing on scraps of paper whilst watching TV. Fast forward several years, and this interest in illustration led him to enrol at the University of Pretoria, where he studied Information Design. “I [...]

In early 2022, the Mikhulu Child Development Trust, supported by the Seven Passes Initiative, trained hundreds of community health workers all over the Western Cape — from the Klein Karoo to the Garden Route.  What are “community health workers”? Community health workers are an important part of our health system. Community health workers are lay community workers who are trained to bring basic, but essential, support on health and well-being to families in their own homes. Community health workers are part of the Department of Health and they work closely with the clinics and hospitals in their area. Partnering with [...]

Annalise lives in Chicago, Paarl - an area that she describes as riddled with drugs and gangsterism. After completing the book-sharing training, Annalise has seen how something which “seems so small, can make a huge difference” in her community. She now runs book-sharing sessions with young children from her area and aims to get parents involved in the training too. Determined to make a difference The school that Annalise works for, Small Talk Daycare, is connected to Inceba Trust. Describing herself as someone who loves to learn, she has taken part in different trainings and workshops through Inceba Trust, [...]

Tumi K is an award-winning illustrator based in Johannesburg. She is strongly motivated by the social influence of the books she illustrates. Her current illustrations for Mikhulu Trust’s new book centre around celebrating the positive role that men can play in the lives of children. She hopes her artwork will inspire conversations in households across South Africa! Purpose outside of the studio Tumi illustrated her first picture book for an author at age 17. Without formal art training, she absorbed everything she could from books and online tutorials in order to pursue her passion for illustration. Tumi began [...]

Being a father can be tricky. A new project in Gugulethu is trying to support fathers to spend more time with their children. Sharing picture-books together is a great way for dads to connect with their children. Every month, at the Men’s Clinic next to Gugulethu Mall, a group of fathers come together to learn about book-sharing. Staff from two non-profit organizations (Sonke Gender Justice and Mikhulu Trust) help them. Book-sharing is about using a picture-book to start a conversation with your child. You can sit together and go through the book together. It does not matter what language you [...]

Sinetemba lives and works in Dunoon. Many people in the neighbourhood are unemployed - and Sinetemba sees the effects of this firsthand. When first asked to participate in the book-sharing training, Sinetemba was resistant. This changed when she saw how much her daughter loved their one-on-one time - and when she realised how book-sharing could benefit her community. “Book-sharing offers parents and caregivers the opportunity to be involved in their children’s development, no matter their level of education or profession.” Learning to love book-sharing From her home, Sinetemba offers primary school students extra lessons and helps younger children with their reading. [...]

Addressing gender inequalities in South African families through a new picture-book