The children benefited from the donations that the Care Workers acquired from businesses

CSC Soshanguve and Pretoria-West / Lotus Gardens provide social development services in townships consisting of low cost housing and informal settlements. About 75% of the children from these areas are orphaned.   Services focus on child protection and prevention. It became clear that CSC could no longer reach all the children needing help as often and as effectively as was required. With the help of PEPFAR funding CSC started to implement the services of care workers which really made a difference.

Orphaned children are usually reported by the family members who take care of them, but suffer because of limited resources. The social workers explained the statutory process to them and provided them with all the forms which need to be completed and the requirements like affidavits which have to be made. In the past, up to a year went by from the date the intake was done till it could be finalized. Since the help of care workers were implemented this process was speeded up. Care workers were trained to make an initial assessment of the home circumstances based on the Child Status Index and to help the grannies with the completion of forms, getting birth certificates and medical reports. This means that children could be protected and get access to grants much sooner.

Care workers also started to take initiative and made an impact in the community. In Soshanguve, two care workers, a brother and sister team and also foster parents for their younger siblings, started a drop-in centre at their home. This project developed into a day care facility to such an extent that the CSC office decided to employ a teacher for the centre. It also became too big for their home. They negotiated with a church group and the ward committee to use the church’s facilities during the week. They also acquired donations from businesses for a fence, educational material, mattresses and to clean the terrain.  At present 38 children receive an early childhood development service. Most of them cannot afford to attend a nursery school and are also children who were identified as children at risk. During the teacher’s strike parents in the neighborhood left their children at the drop-in centre and the care workers had to accommodate, keep them busy and feed them during the day.

The care workers involved with the drop-in centre took a huge part in holiday projects during the June/July school holiday. On the 11 September 2010 these care workers took initiative to arrange an awareness program. They made use of poetry, traditional dances and talks to make the participants aware of child abuse, drug and alcohol abuse, motivate adults to go for HIV testing and the importance of education.

Another team of care workers got access to a secondary school and were allowed to use life skills periods weekly to do HIV Prevention Education. These care workers were also involved in holiday projects. They intervened in the past to make services by Home Affairs and Health more accessible in the community. They organized an event on 17 September 2010 to introduce resources to the community.  SASSA, The Departments of Home Affairs and the SAPS took part in the event. CSC Soshanguve had the opportunity to make a presentation about their services.  They also organized an entrance for the Department of Agriculture in the community who distributed 100 starter packs and gave training in how to start a food garden.

Care workers got involved with families in the community and facilitate a support network for children in need of care. Recently a young foster family’s shack burnt down and the care worker immediately reported it to the CSC office and brought the family in contact with resources in the community. In another family the mother of four children died during August. The two oldest daughters, 20 and 19 years old, both have a baby each. The third child is a boy of nine and the fourth one a baby of nine months. The two girls were prepared to look after the older boy, but were so desperate about the baby that they decided to take him to an orphanage. The care worker offered to take care of the baby to allow him to stay in the community and to stay in touch with his family of origin.

CSC North would not be able to implement the services of care workers without PEPFAR-funding.