A vibrant Heritage Day at Afrika Tikkun
If there was ever a perfect environment to view our South African heritage in action, it would be one of our ECD centres: beautifully dressed, colourful, learners all working and playing together daily. In fact, one could argue that every day is a celebration of our heritage at Afrika Tikkun Bambanani.
Our online app, Bamba Learn, uses the theme of our world-renowned Big Five to encourage play-based learning. Our children are exposed to the beautiful African landscape and wildlife through this app. We found a way to incorporate our heritage into daily education. We chose this theme because South Africans have something so unique to celebrate: our heritage.
Our CEO, Theresa Michael, recently visited a few of our centres. She had this to say:
“When I think about the South African flag, I think of bright colours. These colours are a symbol of our diversity. I see these same beautiful and vibrant colours in our classrooms, because of the diverse children, teachers, and staff in our centres. Our classrooms would make Madiba proud! We all work together to achieve a common goal: educate our future so that the rainbows of tomorrow shine brighter than ever before!”
Heritage Day festivities this year brought this sentiment to life. Across our centres, children arrive dressed in traditional clothing that reflects the cultures and traditions of their families and ancestors. Classrooms come alive with colour, music, dance, storytelling and food, giving children an opportunity to celebrate not only their own heritage, but also to learn about and appreciate the heritage of their friends.
For young children, these experiences matter. Heritage is not simply something to be spoken about once a year. It is experienced through the songs children sing, the stories they hear, the languages they speak, the games they play and the communities in which they grow up. When children see their own culture represented and celebrated in their learning environment, they develop a stronger sense of identity and belonging. At the same time, being exposed to the traditions of others encourages curiosity, respect and an appreciation of difference.
This is particularly meaningful in the ECD environment. Our centres bring together children, practitioners, families and communities with different histories and traditions, yet they share the same hopes for the future. Within these colourful classrooms, children learn an important lesson long before they are old enough to fully understand its significance: our differences do not have to divide us. They can enrich the spaces we share.
At Afrika Tikkun Bambanani, our work is centred on giving young children the strongest possible start in life. That means developing early literacy and numeracy skills, supporting practitioners and creating stimulating learning environments. But education is also about helping children understand who they are, where they come from and the value they bring to their communities.
Perhaps that is what makes Heritage Day so special in our centres. It allows us to pause and celebrate something that we see throughout the year: South Africa’s extraordinary diversity reflected in its youngest citizens.
As our children dance, sing, play and learn together in their traditional clothing today, they remind us that our heritage is not only about remembering the past. It is also about what we choose to build for the future.
And in the colourful classrooms of our ECD centres, that future looks very bright indeed.
By: Pascale Bakos
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