TREE-ecd

21/08/2026

We love this image. ❤️📸🌊 Had to repost!

Don't miss the boat! Uthando Project dolls will be sailing soon.

To be included in our next shipment, completed dolls need to be received at our Headquarters in Forrestfield on or before
Friday 11th September.

18/08/2026

A Special Invitation💚

Today, we’re recognizing a special moment for our Director, MAMA Ruby Motaung, who had the privilege of attending a luncheon hosted by 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮’𝘀 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗟𝗮𝗱𝘆, 𝗗𝗿 𝗧𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗽𝗼 𝗠𝗼𝘁𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗲, in honour of the First Lady of Mauritius, during the 46th SADC Summit.

It was a privilege to be in a room that brought together women from across the region, to be part of such a significant occasion.

Togther with Mam' Ruby, was Department of Basic Education, Director, Ms Nozipho Mkhize, making it an especially meaningful moment for us as an organisation working in Early Childhood Development.

𝗦𝗼 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗮𝘆: 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗿.

We’re proud to see TREE represented in spaces like these and grateful for the opportunity to connect, learn and be part of something bigger.

A beautiful moment. A proud TREE moment. 🌳

11/08/2026

💜

As we celebrate the many faces of women, this Women's Month, we cant help but ask, are we supporting women to become all they can be?

This Women’s Day, our Director, Mam Ruby Motaung, joined Radio Islam to talk about women in ECD and the value of their work.

More than 200,000 women make up South Africa’s ECD workforce. They care for children, run centres, create opportunities and strengthen their communities.

But we need to see them as more than caregivers. They are professionals, entrepreneurs, employers and leaders.

So, beyond celebrating their resilience, how do we create the space for women in ECD to thrive, not just survive?

Because when a women are given opportunities to grow, the impact doesn’t stop with her. It reaches everyone connected to her.

🎙️ Listen to Mam Ruby’s full Women’s Day conversation with Radio Islam here:

07/08/2026

𝙰𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝙷𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚢 𝙲𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚛! 🥇

A big thank you to Toyota Teach for choosing the TREE Toy Shop to equip their learning space with quality classroom resources that inspire learning, creativity and imagination.

𝙻𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚘𝚛 𝙴𝙲𝙳 𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚎?

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚃𝚁𝙴𝙴 𝚃𝚘𝚢 𝚂𝚑𝚘𝚙 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊 𝚠𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚏𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎, 𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚎𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚗'𝚜 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚙𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝.

📧 [email protected]
📞 031 579 4711
🌐 www.tree-ecd.co.za
📍69 Krishna Road, Briardene, Umgeni Park, Durban

𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚃𝚁𝙴𝙴 𝚃𝚘𝚢 𝚂𝚑𝚘𝚙 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚞𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚊 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚗, 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚎.

𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗜𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 :
💚𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗳 – 𝗥𝟲𝟱𝟬
💚𝗗𝗼𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗲-𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 – 𝗥𝟳𝟬𝟬
💚𝗔𝗿𝘁 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗹 (𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘂𝗺) – 𝗥𝟯𝟱𝟬 (𝗟𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲) – 𝗥𝟰𝟬𝟬

𝚃𝚁𝙴𝙴 - 𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙴𝙲𝙳 | 𝚞𝚗𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙵𝚄𝚃𝚄𝚁𝙴 🌳

06/08/2026

𝗪𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗡𝘆𝗲𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗶 𝗘𝗖𝗗 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲 & 𝗣𝗿𝗲-𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗲, 𝗛𝗹𝘂𝗵𝗹𝘂𝘄𝗲, 𝗞𝗭𝗡, this was a powerful reminder that real change begins with one person who refuses to accept the status quo.

Before the handover, the centre operated from a small room which was an old clinic, in this single room babies, toddlers and young children all shared one classroom.

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗠𝗿𝘀 𝗡𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗹𝗼 𝗡𝘁𝘂𝗹𝗶.

As a night security guard at the local clinic, she saw older siblings missing school to care for younger children while their parents worked on far away farms. Instead of accepting this reality, she simply said, "𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭."

So great was her passion for the children that she left her job to become a full time ECD caregiver, going more six months without a salary so that the children of Makhowe could have a safe place to learn and grow.

Thanks to the partnership between Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), Kinderfonds MAMAS, TREE and the Makhowe community, that dream has resulted in a beautiful ECD centre with two classrooms, an office and a sickbay.

With HCI Foundation seed funding enabled 20 ECD practitioners in Hluhluwe to complete TREE's Community Practice Workshop (CPW) programme, ensuring they have the knowledge and skills to provide quality early learning for the children in their care.

𝗔 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟭𝟰𝘁𝗵 𝗘𝗖𝗗 𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗘, 𝗗𝗕𝗦𝗔 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗠𝗔𝗠𝗔𝗦 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽.

One of the day's most moving moments came when Mr Lunga from DBSA shared the meaning of Nyezini - "𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵." 𝘏𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘢𝘭; 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺.

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿, 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲.

May Nyezini continue to be a light for every child and family who walks through its doors. 💚

29/07/2026

A Full-Circle Moment 💚

At TREE, we believe that investing in people creates a ripple effect, where one opportunity can inspire a lifetime of growth.

During a recent visit to Nhlasana Primary School, we had the joy of reconnecting with NJ Sibiya, a proud member of the TREE Alumni network. Having previously completed her NQF Level 4 ECD training through TREE, it was a special moment to see how far her journey has come.

Today, NJ Sibiya is a qualified teacher, nurturing and inspiring young learners in her community.

Moments like these remind us why we are committed to expanding access to learning and supporting the growth of the ECD workforce. The impact of training extends far beyond a qualification. It builds confidence, opens doors, and creates opportunities for continued personal and professional growth.

Reconnecting with alumni like Ms Sibiya is a powerful reminder that when we invest in people, the impact continues long after the training ends.

We are incredibly proud to be a stepping stone in her journey and a contributer to all she has achieved. ✨

29/07/2026

💡 Building sustainable ECD centres starts with a single idea.
♻️ Turning waste into opportunity.

This past Saturday, 35 ECD practitioners and teachers gathered at TREE's training centre to begin their Early Years Enterprise Challenge journey with Teach A Man To Fish

The first workshop challenged participants to see recycled materials through a different lens, exploring how everyday items often considered waste can be transformed into products with value.

Along the way, participants unpacked the history of money, what gives products value, and how entrepreneurial thinking can contribute to more sustainable ECD centres.

More than creating products, the workshop encouraged educators to think creatively, solve problems and explore practical ways of introducing entrepreneurship to young children.

With two more workshops and a Marketplace Day still ahead, we're excited to see these ideas grow into opportunities for both educators and the children they serve.

28/07/2026

🚨 NEW DATE ADDED! 🚨

By popular demand, we've opened another ICDL Digital Citizen Plus training date!

Wanting to build your confidence with technology, this opportunity is for you.

Dont delay register your interest today: https://forms.gle/DtXdh2s43hzC2dAT9

Unlock your future today. One click at a time.

TREE ECD 💚

24/07/2026

Ten Years. A Remarkable Journey.🏆

Stunning here is our Executive Director, Mmatsetshweu Ruby Motaung, and Director: Programmes, Teressa Ngobese, who had the joy of joining Avon Peaking Power in celebrating a decade of community investment and positive change.

For TREE, the celebration carried special meaning. Since 2016, we have had the privilege of witnessing the growth of a partnership rooted in a shared commitment to strengthening quality education within the ECD workforce and unlocking access to early learning opportunities for young children and communities. The occasion also provided an opportunity to connect with key stakeholders who share a passion for community development and meaningful systemic impact.

Congratulations, Avon Peaking Power, on 10 years of investing in people and communities. Thank you for walking this journey with us and for the positive legacy you continue to build. 💚