Early childhood Development

Children born to teenage mothers are as vulnerable as their moms and always suffer from malnutrition, fail to acquire basic education leave alone quality. This results from male culprits; owners of the pregnancies always abandoning the moms, who in turn are left with no support at all. Research shows that for the above reasons, children of teen moms end up being teen moms too or if boys, they end up as juveniles. In a bid to cut this vicious cycle, CCAYEF has supported teenage mothers through offering medical treatment to very sick babies and teenage mothers; and pre-primary education.

Child Care Nursery and Day Care Center was put up to cater for the helpless children born to child moms, however due to its good input the community has liked it and have come along to utilize our services. Our package, a part from covering the normal school curriculum we also offer parenting sessions to parents, promote early graders’ reading in both English and the local language (Luganda) and ensure good nutrition among the children. It is in here that we emphasize the right to play for these babies for proper mental and physical growth and development. Moral, social, emotional and cognitive support is all catered for.

Establishment of Day Care Centre and Nursery School

Though the Ugandan Government has put in place Universal Primary Education, there are no public early childhood development centres. We have established a day care centre and nursery school, mainly to assist the children of the teenage mothers we serve and those of the neighboring community where our offices are located. This will enable these vulnerable children to get a firm foundation and quality educational start in their lives.

Re-integration of Teenage Mothers into the Formal Education System

We have re-integrated over 15 teen mothers into formal education. One teenage mother has completed training in nursery teacher education and she is now employed and able to look after herself and her child. One mother is in primary school, while the rest are in secondary schools. They have set their life goals and we are supporting them to realize their goals through consistent follow-ups and continual counseling and training.