Mulumbo is a community-based early childhood education and development (ECED) program that runs a chain of ECED centers where children are given the chance to play, interact, and develop foundational skills. Centers are run by trained caregivers from within the community. The community-focused nature of the program has proven key to its success, as communities have taken ownership over the centers and become invested in their outcomes and sustainability.

 

Parents from the communities within which Mulumbo works have come to recognize the importance of these centers, and in some cases have agreed to pay a minimal fee in order to sustain them. Parents thus volunteer to pay and contribute financially to the centers in any way that they can, but parents who cannot afford to pay are still allowed to send their children.