The centre has been running since 1990 and takes 50 children from three to six years old. It is a paid service, but most of the monthly ZAR 200 (USD 14) fee is used on food. At the centre teachers help children prepare for school and develop social skills. The centre is also a place where children can play together and feel safe.

Many living in the informal settlement moved here to look for work. Unemployment rates are high.

South Africa is considered a middle-income country today and many donors have cut their funding. But for people living in poverty, conditions have hardly improved since apartheid was abolished.

Gugulethu Ndebele is the CEO of Save the Children South Africa:

“We are a divided country and the divide is getting larger. The poor are really poor and the rich are very rich. The legacy of apartheid is still there, many children at risk today come from families that bore the brunt of apartheid.”

Alexandra Township is one of the poorest urban areas in South Africa. Many people that move here from the country-side looking for work doesn’t find any.

The centre that Save the Children runs offer a safe place for children to interact, learn and be children.

Violence against children is common in South Africa and sexual violence and other forms of abuse are increasing. Corporal punishment is something that is taken for granted.

“We are a violent country,” Gugulethu Ndebele says. She is the CEO of Save the Children South Africa. “We have a lot of crime and violence. And children are suffering from that, we see rising numbers of incidents of violence against children. Sexual abuse, other physical violence or corporal punishment.”

The centre has been running since 1990 and takes 50 children from three to six years old. It is a paid service, but most of the monthly ZAR 200 (USD 14) fee is used on food. At the centre teachers help children prepare for school and develop social skills. The centre is also a place where children can play together and feel safe.

“I see a big difference in the children that come here. When they first come, they are shy, not outgoing. They are not very open to other children or adults. When they leave us to go to school – they are ready. They wouldn’t do well in school if they were not here first.”

Josephine works for Save the Children South Africa.

The township is one of the poorest urban areas in South Africa and part of Johannesburg.

Sophia lives with two of her aunts in a one-room brick and tin sheet building in Alexandra township in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Save the Children book sharing project in Alexandra is a project in which parents and other carers are given books and training. They sit down with their toddlers and share books. Sharing books and spending time together help the children’s attention, help the parent communicate better with their child, so the child can express him or herself better.

Many of the 30 parents or carers that were part of the pilot project still meet and the project has also created a social network that wasn’t there before.

Sophia lives with two of her aunts in a one-room brick and tin sheet building in Alexandra township in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Save the Children book sharing project in Alexandra is a project in which parents and other carers are given books and training. They sit down with their toddlers and share books. Sharing books and spending time together help the children’s attention, help the parent communicate better with their child, so the child can express him or herself better.

Many of the 30 parents or carers that were part of the pilot project still meet and the project has also created a social network that wasn’t there before.

“During a public campaign, you make a lot of noise, show the problem and start debates. But you also need to point to a solution. It is my job to find scientifically proven solutions that Save the Children South Africa can use practically.”

The book sharing project in Alexandra is a pilot project using a model developed by international and South African universities. For six weeks, parents sit down with their toddlers and share books.

“These are wordless books, it’s not about reading, it is about spending time with your child,” Celia says.

This activity will help the children’s attention, help the parent communicate better with their child, so the child can express him or herself better. It builds a bond and in the end these things are important for when they start school.

“The feedback from this project was phenomenal,” Celia says. “Parents said: This is a way for me to spend time with my child, they love it… The project also built a social network, the women now meet and support each other. This was not framed as a women empowering programme, but it has taken that shape as well.”

“South Africa is a divided country – the rich are very rich and the poor are very poor and that division is growing. The generation that vulnerable children’s parents come from is the one that bore the brunt of Apartheid. It is a generation that didn’t complete school, don’t have work opportunities, and it is also a very angry generation.”