Alison Naftalin

Lively Minds

Alison Naftalin's picture
Name: Alison Naftalin
Organization: Lively Minds
Website: http://www.livelyminds.org
Title: CEO
Bio:
In 2007, Government Lawyer Alison Naftalin volunteered at a school in northern Ghana. Whilst there she saw that young children were not getting the early years education and care they needed to escape a life of poverty. Alison also saw practical and sustainable solutions. She trained a group of Mothers in the village where she was living to run a Play Centre to give children sustainable learning opportunities. The neighbouring village requested a Centre, then another and so on. Alison realised the potential of the project and trained local teams in Ghana and then Uganda to continue and develop this work– Lively Minds was born. Starting out in 2008 with just £3000, under Alison's leadership Lively Minds has developed into a highly respected and expert organisation. We’ve already trained and empowered over 2000 vulnerable Mothers to run educational 76 Play Centres; opened 20 Reading Schemes, and delivered Child Sacrifice Prevention Workshops in 60 primary schools in Uganda. This has improved the lives of 20,000 children.

Challenge Entries

Lively Minds - Community-run Play Centres
Apr 25, 2014 / 4 Comments / in Community development, Early childhood development, Rural development, Play

We train uneducated vulnerable Mothers in highly deprived rural villages to run educational Play Centres for pre-school children using local materials. This enhances the Mothers' wellbeing & parenting skills and empowers them to improve their children's education and health through play.

Play Centre
May 29, 2009 / 0 Comments / in Child care, Early childhood development, Education, Play, Youth development, Youth leadership

Lively Minds empowers communities in Africa to give young children the chance to play and learn – developing children’s ‘lively minds’ so they have a good start in life and the best possible chances for the future. We work with women and youth from deprived rural communities in Ghana and Uganda to help them set up and run their own play centres for children aged 3-6 years old. In the play centres children develop through play and learn about good health and hygiene.