Johannesburg – South Africa’s kids are on the centre of a brand new nationwide initiative as Maintain My Hand formally launches the Mind Energy Competitors, geared toward celebrating on a regular basis acts that construct sturdy foundations for lifelong studying.
Function of the Competitors
- The competitors responds on to the Nationwide Technique for Accelerated Motion for Youngsters (NSAAC).
- NSAAC identifies early studying and language growth as one in all ten pressing priorities for unlocking South Africa’s future potential.
- Science reveals that 90% of mind growth happens earlier than age 5, making early caregiving essential.
On a regular basis Acts That Construct Mind Energy
Individuals are invited to showcase easy, each day interactions that strengthen kids’s brains, together with:
- Storytelling and studying
- Singing, dancing, and lullabies
- Play with “unfastened components” akin to sticks, stones, or pots to spark curiosity
- Responsive speak, answering kids’s babbles and questions
Mesuli Kama, Maintain My Hand’s social mobilisation lead, emphasised: “The actual architects of South Africa’s future are the moms, gogos, fathers, and caregivers at dwelling right this moment.
“That is about making the invisible work of caregiving seen to your complete nation.”
Learn how to Enter
- Open to all South African residents throughout 9 provinces.
- Entries accepted in all 12 official languages.
- Submit by way of WhatsApp (0600 411 111) by sending a 30-second video, voice word, or picture with a brief story.
- To begin, ship the phrase ‘Brainpower’ to the WhatsApp quantity.
Competitors Timeline & Prizes
- Begin Date: 13 April 2026
- Closing Date: 23 Might 2026
- Prizes: R8 000 in weekly money prizes
Past the Competitors
Whereas the competition celebrates particular person caregivers, Maintain My Hand continues to push for structural adjustments to assist kids’s growth:
- Closing the meals hole to make sure kids obtain sufficient vitamin, particularly protein for mind development.
- Defending kids from alcohol-related harms, with excessive ranges of foetal alcohol spectrum dysfunction posing a severe problem.
Kama added that youngsters are additionally inspired to take part:
“Constructing mind energy is one thing all of us can do, even older siblings and prolonged relations.”
About Maintain My Hand
- A nationwide communications and social mobilisation marketing campaign supporting the NSAAC.
- Established via a partnership between the Presidency and the DG Murray Belief.
- The Maintain My Hand Accelerator for Youngsters and Teenagers works to fast-track precedence methods for little one and teenage well-being.
