and reach thousands of daily visitors
9 JUNE 2010
NO 1588
An Isibindi project
An inspiring tale
Single parent Esther had 4 children: Moses 11, Pfumelani 8,
Solani 6 and Zwothela 4. Solani is HIV positive and has special needs
(she cannot talk). Esther is unemployed and they depend on the child
support grant.
When Child and Youth Care worker Mashudu engaged with the family Solani was being locked inside the house because Esther was ashamed of her. lt was also hard for Mashudu to work with Esther as she made sure that he should not go anywhere close to Solani. The family did not have enough food, and did not socialize with friends and neighbors. Moses did not attend school regularly and spend time at the mall and on the streets. Zwofhela had challenging behavior, and SoIani’s body was weak. Pfunelani was staying in another village with family. Then Solani became very ill, was admitted for two weeks to hospital, and passed away within a week of being discharged.
In working with the family the Child and Youth Care worker has provided child care services including:
Advising the mother to take Solani to the clinic.
Accompanying the mother and Solani to hospitali where Solani was introduced to ARV treatment.
Arranging for Moses to go back to school.
Teaching the children hygiene.
Making arrangements with the social worker for the department to bury Solani.
Arranging with the Chief for Solani to be buried in the area as the mother was not paying community service fees.
Digging the grave to bury Solani.
Providing life space counseling and a memory box
Involving the children with others in activities to help them socialize.
Speaking with Moses to help him leave living on the street
Sourcing donated clothes from the local church for the whole family
Arranging for Pfumelani to come back to stay with the mother and attend school at Tswinga
Including Pfumelani in a holiday program.
As a result of these and other work done by the Isibindi Far North team:
Moses is now going to school.
Solani had a funeral (she was going to be cremated at the hospital).
Zwofhela is now able to play with others and has learned social skills like greeting and apologizing when hurting others.
The relationship between the Child and Youth Care worker and the family is now excellent.
The mother is taking treatment.
The Child and Youth Care workers future plans with the family include:
Teaching budgeting.
Homework supervision
Obtaining funeral cover.
Teaching life skills.
Ensuring contact between the mother and the extended family.
Arranging for all the children to undergo counseling.
Recently Esther became very ill. The project arranged for her together with the children, the Child and Youth Care worker and the manager to go to Makuleke (near Kruger National Park) to visit her relatives. For the first time project staff were surprised to see the mother clean and very excited. Esther was very happy during the visit. The grandmother was also happy, and revealed that her late husband used to communicate with her in dreams about their Esther – their lost child. They arranged that the relatives will visit Esther and her children, meet with the Chief at Tshwinga, organise the necessary funeral cover and also assist with the provision of food. We sometimes ask ourselves how we can manage the challenging situations we come across in different families. But later we rejoice when we see improvements in the lives of those we work with.
LINKY MSUN'WA
Msun'wa, L. (2007). On courage and commitment: Stories
from Isibindi projects. An inspiring tale. Child and Youth Care
Work, 25, 5. p. 8.
