Why the first 1,000 days decide so much

A child's first 1,000 days – from conception to their second birthday – do more to shape their future than almost any other period in their life. In a new episode of Breadline Africa's podcast Our Voice, Our Future, host Rachel Kolisi sits down with David Harrison, CEO of the DG Murray Trust and one of South Africa's leading voices on child health and early childhood development, to unpack why.

Our Voice, Our Future shares stories that inspire action and explore the issues shaping the lives of children and communities across Southern Africa. This episode goes straight to the heart of one of those issues: what happens when support for a young child arrives too late or doesn't arrive at all.

Kolisi and Harrison talk through the realities many South African families live with every day: a clinic that's too far to reach, preventative healthcare that's out of reach, and poverty that can shape a child's opportunities long before they set foot in a classroom. It's a conversation about how those early gaps compound, and why closing them early is so much more effective than trying to make up for lost ground later.

DG Murray Trust incubates Hold My Hand as part of the National Strategy to Accelerate Action for Children, so this conversation sits close to home. The first 1,000 days, brain development, and reaching families before a crisis hits are exactly the ground our Brain Power and Birth To Three work is built on.