Fun walk for kids’ growth
Imam Abdullah Haron Education Trust launches annual event to raise funds for ECD
THE Imam Abdullah Haron Education Trust launched its annual 6km fun walk yesterday. The launch comes in the month of the 49th anniversary of the death in detention of the imam, who fought against apartheid.
The event, called the IAHET Bibi’s Kitchen Family Fun Walk, takes place on September 30 and the route will, very poignantly, be along Imam Haron Road in Lansdowne, said his daughter Fatiema Haron Masoet.
All the funds raised will go towards the IAHET early childhood development (ECD) programme, as well as marketing of the organisation to the broader Western Cape community.
“Through community participation, the Bibi’s Kitchen Family Fun Walk offers the opportunity to increase public awareness of Imam Haron and his legacy, as well as exposing the community to the work of the IAHET, thereby expanding its footprint,” Haron Masoet said.
“We also aim to raise the profile of the late Imam Abdullah Haron, especially to the younger generation, who may not be aware of his role in the liberation Struggle through working in marginalised communities that culminated in him making the ultimate sacrifice.”
The ECD programme is run in partnership with well-established and highly respected agencies: Grassroots Educare Trust, the Foundation for Community Work and the Centre for Early Childhood Development, which have a combined 120 years’ experience in the field.
All these NGOs work in seriously under-resourced areas like Langa, Belhar, Valhalla Park and the Barcelona informal settlement in Gugulethu, where they provide much-needed ECD services to those communities, said Haron Masoet.
“We are also planning to extend the programme to Mitchells Plain, Retreat, Bridgetown, the Vygieskraal informal settlement and the West Coast fishing village of St Helena Bay. Funds are raised for specific projects and, to date, we have raised and spent more than R2million on providing programmes to over 1200 children in these areas. More than 600 parents have already been trained in ECD workshops that have empowered them to help their children academically.
“Our focus on ECD is motivated by international research which has shown that if a child is exposed to educational opportunities during the period between birth and the age of 6, he/she will be developed for life,” she said, adding that, currently, 66% of children in South Africa do not receive any kind of early childhood stimulation.
“Bearing this in mind, and also having identified this as an area where the biggest impact could be made, the IAHET resolved to make this the focus of our activities,” she said.
The entry fee for the IAHET Bibi’s Kitchen 6km Family Fun Walk is R35 per person. Tickets can be purchased online at Webtickets.co.za or at Pick n Pay stores.
Entry forms can also be obtained from Bibi’s Kitchen, Broad Road, Wynberg. The closing date for entries is September 23.
For more information, email: imamharonwalk@gmail.com or haronfatiema@gmail.com