Philani Child Health and Nutrition Centre

About us

The Philani Child Health & Nutrition Project is a community-based non-governmental organization (NGO), operating in a number of informal settlements on the outskirts of Cape Town. The Philani Project was initially established in the ‘illegal’ squatter community of Crossroads in 1979 to provide basic child health and nutrition services to a community ignored and neglected by the health authorities of the apartheid government. Philani is committed to the promotion of good child health and nutrition, the prevention of child malnutrition and the rehabilitation of underweight children to normal nutrition status and good health, in a caring, supportive environment in communities where malnourished children and destitute mothers are most vulnerable.

Beyond its original focus on children through its outreach and home-based nutrition and child health program, the project has, over the past thirty years, responded to the needs expressed by its target communities and, as a result developed a number of other programs. These include an education and skills training program for women leading to sustainable income generation, development of five pre-schools offering early childhood education to about 250 children between the ages of 3 and 5, a program supporting mothers-to-be, a breast feeding peer counsellor program, a home-based care program for those too sick to care for themselves, a dental program, support for orphans and vulnerable children, as well as a care and support program for HIV positive mothers and children limiting the suffering of families infected and affected by HIV and preventing the spread of the virus through a comprehensive program of education, care, support and treatment.

Philani’s vision is for a South Africa where every child can grow up healthy and well nourished and so be able to fulfil his or her physical and mental potential.