Pampers South Africa has teamed up with celebrity moms DJ Zinhle and Busisiwe “Cici” Thwala to donate 1000 scholarships to SmartStart to support early childhood learning in South Africa.
The celebrity partnership with Pampers was launched last year through #MamaUyindlovu campaign which celebrated single moms in South Africa and the role that all parents played in their children’s lives during the lockdowns, especially single moms who had to do it all alone. Pampers created a special video where Cici shared how she created special moments and brought the world home to her son during lockdown.
“My son spent most of the first year of his life in lockdown so I was worried about him not being able to learn through exploration because we couldn’t step out. Children learn through play and spending time with other children. So, I’m very excited now that the world is now opening up and he can attend playgroups and playdates to help his growth and development.” said Cici.
In South Africa, it is estimated that, in the poorest 40% of households, only 20% of birth to four-year-old children attend some form of out-of-home care. Pampers hopes that through their partnership with SmartStart they can provide learning opportunities to more children to provide support to families, especially single mom-headed families and help little ones unlock their potential in our post lockdown world through access to quality learning programmes.
SmartStart’s franchised programme is delivered through playgroups, day mothers and Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres that all seek to improve children’s readiness for learning, school performance, and overall life success.
“Forming relationships with an organisation, such as Pampers, is very important to address inequality and access to education at an early age,” Grace Matlhapi said, Smart Start CEO.
“We look forward to driving this partnership even in years to come to help to unlock South Africa’s potential,” concluded Rajat Gupta, Senior Brand Director at Pampers.
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