1. Tell us a bit about yourself.
Hi! My name is Pam Picken and I’m the Early Years Specialist for the DO MORE FOUNDATION.
The early years covers the period from conception to school age, so THE most critical period of any person’s life! Exponential growth and brain development takes place in these early years – in fact 90% of brain development before age 5! So if we want our young children to thrive, do well in school and become happy, well-adjusted competent citizens – we need to make sure they get the best possible start in life! And that means that parents and ECD (Early Childhood Development) teachers play a critically important role!
My driving passion for the past 45 years has been to work in policy, research and programmes towards EVERY South African child having this best start in life – a start that includes:
- a healthy pregnancy, followed by breast-feeding;
- love and care in a family;
- access to good health care
- and good nutrition
- early stimulation and early learning through play
- a safe, protective and hygienic environment
My last 10 years with the inspiring DO MORE FOUNDATION has enabled me to see some of my dreams come to life in the communities in which DO MORE is involved. The DO MORE FOUNDATION was founded out of RCL FOODS Corporate Social Investment [CSI]. RCL FOODS is one of the biggest food companies in the country with 56 business sites employing more than 22 000 people from surrounding communities. Their big brands are Rainbow Chickens, Selati Sugar, Yum Yum peanut butter, Sunbake Bread and others. DO MORE works in the resource-poor communities surrounding business operations, in multi-stakeholder private/public partnerships to ‘Create Better Tomorrows for Young Children’.
2. What work do you do?
I have been responsible for supporting DO MORE to refine its focus on and strategies for young children; find the right partners; design the implementation strategies and programmes in line with best practice and national and global developments and policies and to advocate for change in South Africa’s approach to its youngest most vulnerable citizens. Young children are South Africa’s forgotten citizens and less than 1% of our national budget goes to early learning and parent support. We fail our little ones at our peril!
3. How long have you been in the industry?
45 years! I was a high school teacher teaching English and history to ‘A’ level when I became pregnant with our first child. I didn’t want to be a mum who moaned about the boredom of bringing up babies and how much I’d rather be doing other things or furthering my career – so I started to read about the early years and became absolutely fascinated by how extraordinary early brain development is, starting when the baby is still in Mum’s tummy. And that launched me into a driving passion to see what could be done to support young children & families in marginalised communities.
In these 45 years, I have taught at pre-primary schools; done voluntary work in early childhood in The Valley of a Thousand Hills, KZN; led CSI for Rainbow Farms focussing on young children; led a large ECD Non-profit organisation, TREE (Training & Resources in Early Education) in KZN reaching many thousands of young children; been involved in research, policy and programme development and lastly my most rewarding 10 years working with the inspirational DO MORE FOUNDATION team.
4. Has your work always been your passion ? Tell us why?
I’ve always worked hard & done my very best, but it was only when I was inspired by passion and purpose that my work became really meaningful and my lifelong driving force! I think that’s the joy of working in the non-profit sector – where doing something with real purpose and being able to make a difference, becomes more important than how much money you can make, what status you have and what fancy things you possess! So much so, that I retired from TREE aged 65 and retired for another 10 years to carry on working to make a difference for young children!
5. Being a woman in the industry – what does it take?
The ‘industry’ as you describe it is, for me, ANYONE who works with or for young children – including mothers, fathers, grannies and the incredible cadre of dedicated, mostly women, who facilitate early learning programmes at playgroups, ECD centres or pre-schools. They are almost all grossly under-recognised and grossly under-paid, yet they do their best to ensure our nation’s little ones get the best start in life. I salute them!
6. What has been the most difficult challenge of your career?
The most difficult challenge of my career has been finding the necessary public and private resources and finances to enable more young children to access quality services, especially early learning. I guess until our nation recognises the vital importance of the early years, this will be a continual challenge. Other developing nations have recognised how important these early years are and through investment into programmes for young children, have been able to turn their economies and countries around to become winning nations. We need to give our little ones the best possible start in life, so that they have a strong foundation on which to build their and the country’s future.
7. What advice do you have for other women in your industry?
Keep fighting the fight for our young children’s rights and needs, but unite together and speak with one strong voice. Speak on every platform or forum – in your community, to your municipality, to your elected representatives. There’s an election coming up – check how much importance your political party or representative gives to our young children, who have no voice! And most importantly – support those working in the early childhood sector.
8. Plans for the future?
I am retiring at the end of this year – age 76 but I will never lose my passion for the early years. I am inspired by the many wonderful people in the early childhood sector and both humbled and grateful that I’ve had an opportunity to make a difference. I will continue to facilitate leadership development in the sector!
