The Educator Who Dedicated Everything to Becoming the Best ECD Practitioner for Her Little Ones

Photo Credit: Project Hope SA via Facebook

Zizi has always wanted to be a teacher – and she gave it her all to become one. From studying part-time and writing assignments late into the evening to saving from her modest salary to fund her dream, she made it happen. Today, she is an adored teacher who hands out countless free hugs and delivers the highest quality skills development to the little ones in her care.

Valley of 1000 Hills, South Africa (03 September 2026) – From as far back as she can remember, Zizile ‘Zizi ‘ Mdunge has always wanted to be a teacher – and it shows!

Deep in the Valley of 1000 Hills, her laughter echoes long before she steps into a room. At her creche, she gives countless free hugs, wipes away tears, and carries children who are still finding their feet. Under her watchful eye, she ensures that the most vulnerable little ones feel seen and heard, and are fed and loved.

An ECD practitioner in rural KZN, Zizi represents the incredible dedication it takes to educate preschoolers and run a classroom.

She brings more than a decade of experience to her three-year-old learners. However, her path to qualification required years of steady determination. Zizi completed both her ECD Level 1 and Level 2 certificates part-time over four years. This meant studying after a long day of teaching, writing assignments during evenings, and sacrificing weekends to invest in her profession.

What makes Zizi’s story truly remarkable is that she completely self-funded her training. On a modest salary, she carefully saved for years to afford her tuition and travel costs. She made this immense commitment because she knew the children in her care deserved the absolute best start in life.

She now receives support from Project Hope’s Grow ECD programme, which powers its affiliated early learning centres.

Project Hope supports early learning through strengthened Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres like Zizi’s creche, alongside integrated services that respond to children’s health, nutrition, emotional wellbeing, and family resilience. It works not only with children, but with the systems around them – because children flourish when families and communities are supported too.

“At Project Hope, we feel privileged to walk alongside champions like Zizi. She proves that the true heart of ECD is not about fancy infrastructure. It is about devotion—the extraordinary people who show up for our children every day.”