C Child care is about commitment about not giving up; about taking what you do very seriously. Child care is about commitment to learning all you can so that you can do the best work possible with the children and youth in your care. Without commitment the pressure would break you. 

H Child care is about hope about knowing that within the most troubled of children there is someone who can cope and who will find meaning in their lives. It is about the hope that is associated with trying every day to make a difference even when weeks have gone by without any sign of change. 

I Child care is about integrity. In every action; in all decisions the child care worker is required to act with complete integrity. You cannot violate the rights of youth and children; you cannot violate the rights of adults of parents, families and the people you work with because a violation of these people is a violation of the soul of your profession. Only in your integrity can the people you work with begin to trust you and if they cannot trust you you cannot work with them. 

L  Child care is about love. This is such a risky word because if we love we are open to being hurt and we know the cost of that risk. But without love — in its most useful sense we cannot use the commitment and hope to support the people we work with. You must be able to love in order to free children and their families to love each other and you have to be able to love so that you can cope with the pain and the joy knowing that both make up the complete picture and that in life, there is always a little bit of both. 

D Child care is about discipline. Some people still struggle to use the word along side love but for me they are the same thing. Discipline is about control most importantly it is about self control. Discipline is not punishment; it is not humiliation and it is not paid. Discipline is about being confident enough to make choices about not doing things and about doing the difficult thing sometimes. Discipline is about working hard to improve your qualifications and discipline is about controlling the things you do when with children no matter how tired you are. Discipline is not only about children. 

C Child care is about courage. It is not just the courage to face a child that genuinely frightens you but it is also the courage not to stop facing that child with all the empathy and love you know you have to use. Courage is about not giving up. Courage is about taking the day with the children head on and making it work. 

A Child care is about attitude. Attitude influences action so if you are feeling down; tired; burnt out or angry it often works to look at your at- titude. Are you expecting the impossible? Have you missed the minute of joy in the hour of devastation? Did today turn out badly because you knew it would? Attitude is also about the way we face the children and families we work with it is about seeing the strengths and expecting the growth rather than waiting breathlessly for the failure. 

R Child care is about respect. It is about respecting the children; their families; their stories and their communities. It is about respecting your profession; your employer; your colleagues and your own family. It is about respecting yourself and being fair to your own needs.  

E Child care is about empathy. It is not about simply caring for and about children. It is about being willing to take the risk of entering the life space experience of the child. It is about swopping shoes and changing your point of view. On behalf of all the people who do see and know what you do and especially on behalf of everyone who has ever taken you for granted: thank you and may your own circle of courage continue to protect you. 

Felicity Coughlan is Head of the Department of Social Work at the East London campus of Rhodes University in South Africa