Vusumnotfo

Vusumnotfo - "to renew - the economy" - is a Swazi Not-for-Profit whose formation was authorized by community leaders in northern Swaziland following the 1991/92 drought. These leaders identified "dependency" as the underlying factor limiting development of their communities. They attributed the deep roots of "dependency" to interwoven issues specific to Swaziland and the region. To address these issues in ways relevant to their communities, they formed Vusumnotfo . Accordingly, our strategy reflects the many Swazi proverbs indicating that the betterment of the future is through the child - "Umntfwana ngumliba loya embili". Our goal is to strengthen skills at family and community level to tackle four basic, inter-related problems that restrict children from developing and learning. These are: 1) insufficient understanding of how children develop and learn, 2) limited finances, 3) poor nutrition, and 4) inadequate infrastructure and management. As "giving things" furthers dependency, we provide 1) training, 2) structured support and 3) mentoring so people learn to use self-reliant and ecological practices to tackle these four basic, inter-related problems within their family and community. 1. Early Childhood Training Programme - to advance integrated, early development and learning for all children: 1.1. Parenting - i) train in early childhood development and learning, including factors that influence this, ii) conduct a veterinary clinic annually (animal care to promote responsibility and empathy in children), iii) provide support to children with special needs at family level. 1.2. Community preschool teaching - i) train (in-service), ii) mentor in practices aligned with integrated, early learning. 1.3. Manage a library for community preschool teachers, to encourage bilingual reading. 2. Livelihood Training Programme - to advance sustainable improvements in financial and health indicators: 2.1. Entrepreneurship - i) train in basic financial literacy, ii) train and form savings& lending groups, iii) mentor savings & lending groups. 2.2. Perma-gardening for nutrition - i) train in perma-gardening for nutrition, ii) provide information and propagation "start-up" material. 2.3. Demonstrate the use of permaculture practices throughout Vusumnotfo operations, to encourage sustainable living. 3. Infrastructure and Management Support Programme - to advance sustainable infrastructure and management practices: 3.1. Community Preschools - i) train in sustainable infrastructure and management practices, ii) provide structured support for infrastructure improvements (requiring a community's timely completion of practical tasks), iii) mentor management practices. 3.2. Community WASH - i) train in sustainable infrastructure and management practices, ii) provide structured support for infrastructure improvements (requiring a community's timely completion of practical tasks), iii) mentor management practices. 3.3. Demonstrate the use of data throughout Vusumnotfo operations, to encourage sustainable infrastructure and management. Overtime, our strategy of strengthening skills at family and community level will result in sustainable practices that meet the developmental and learning needs of all children. This builds human capacity to improve environmental, social and economic conditions, hence our vision - A Sustainable Future.