The CompreCare staff eagerly joined in to the spirit of Christmas and put together the beautiful looking Christmas boxes brimming with gifts for the beneficiaries.

In total, 11 of CompreCare’s staff generously pledged 15 boxes to the initiative. The pledged boxes will be distributed to Gauteng, Nelspruit and Polokwane.

It is the staff’s hope that all the recipients will feel loved and cared for and enjoy their gifts.

Comprecare Joint Venture will be at Zambezi Junction, in front of the fruit and veg, on Saturday 15th October and Sunday 16th October from 10am – 2pm.

The car there so that people can see the car that will be won. Win a Peugeot 207 Urban 1.4 5 door or the 2nd prize of an 11 night Island Cruise for 2 on the MSC Melody worth R31 640 for a R25 donation to this competition run by Beeld-Kindersfonds.

We have 1000 tickets availabl this weekend, hopefully.Contact CompreCare offices on 0124402140 for more information.

Win a Peugeot 207 Urban 1.4 5 door, or a 2nd prize of an 11 night Island Cruise for 2 on the MSC Melody worth R31 640.

R25 donation gets you a ticket to this competition run by Beeld-Kindersfonds.

Contact CompreCare offices on 0124402140 for more information.

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.

photo by 300td.org

On the 17^th of June  we got the tip-off from Badirammogo (old age home) concerning an allegedly abused child. We went to the given address and we found a three year old girl who stayed with her father in a small shack at the squatter camps called Choba. The father was from Lesotho, unemployed and without an Identity document.

The child`s face appeared to be deformed due to physical abuse and she had bruises all over her body including her private parts. We asked the father about the mother’s whereabouts and found out that the mother was in Hospital suffering from TB and she was HIV infected. We opened an intake form for this child and a referral was send to Child welfare’s statutory office for their intervention. The father was encouraged to go with the child to the clinic for testing because they never tested before.

After  three days a follow up visit was undertaken. The father showed us the proof that they were both HIV negative. The statutory office had not responded to the referral by then and we still believed the child’s life was in danger since she had evidence of new bruises. When the father was confronted he informed us that the child had fallen. Our Social Worker intervened by calling the police and the child was taken to a place of safety. The child was also taken to the doctor to be examined and the results came back indicating the child was having a discharge and further examinations were required.

The Social Auxillary Worker contacted the mother’s family in Lesotho to inform them that the child has been removed from his father’s care and that her mother was very sick. After few days the family from Lesotho came and they found that the mother was in a very bad condition and they decided to take both of them back home to Lesotho. After 3 days we received a call from Lesotho informing us that the mother has passed away.

The father came back to the office to thank us for intervening and helping him to realise he needed help from Social Workers. If we had not intervened then the mother would have died in South Africa and he would have not afforded to take the corpse back home to Lesotho. He has now been able to get a job as he previously could not since he had to look after the 3 year old child.

A care worker at Christian Social Council, Roodeplaat, took Violet under her care. Violet’s birth was registered and she was enrolled in a rehabilitation program for teenage prostitutes. After she completed the program she was enrolled at the St Anne’s Convent in Atteridgeville. Although she was fourteen years old, she was still in grade 3. Violet was making good progress and adapted well, but she needed a family and a personal support system. Her care worker then facilitated her admission to the Vastfontein Children’s Village. This children’s home focuses on raising orphans in child-care homes which resemble a family setup.

CSC’s involvement in her life led to a profound improvement of Violet’s circumstances – from a life as a child prostitute without any protection or prospect of a meaningful future, to a protected home environment with emotional support and opportunities to develop her full potential. All indications are that Violet will fully recover leading a normal life as teenager. This story of hope would not have been possible without USAID financially supporting this community based care program for orphans and vulnerable children.

*Not her real name

Rose met her care worker when her husband was sick who referred her to the social worker for counseling because she found it hard to cope with her sick husband and their HIV status. Her care worker motivated her to start living positively. The ongoing services made her realize that HIV is not a death sentence. Her eldest daughter attended the holiday projects and got involved in the peer education group.

SABC 2’s “Each One, Teach One” approached Child Welfare Tshwane, who are receiving USAID funding, for an interview with a mother living with HIV. The topic for the program was “Living positively with HIV and AIDS”. Rose was selected amongst other beneficiaries living with HIV. She agreed and was positive about the interview. In the discussions she was open about her status and the difficulties she was facing regardless of the stigma and criticism from the Mamelodi community.

Her willingness to talk on a national television channel touched many hearts. Soon after the interview, a viewer, who was also touched by Rose’s story, contacted the Ford Care Centre and offered her a job as a cleaner at a local college. This good deed created an opportunity for Rose as she can now buy food and is able to financially look after her children. And the other challenge had been taking her antiretroviral medication on an empty stomach. Now she can afford the dietary requirements for the treatment plan.

A spokesperson at the Centre said: “This interview has been proof that the quality of our work is of high standard, we know that in the long run the impact of our services will be visible in our community.”

A spokesperson of Sizanani Home Based Care, told the following story of hope.

“While doing door to door visits one of our care workers suspected that Lindiwe*, a nine year old girl, was being abused. Lindiwe stayed with her father’s family and step mother. Her biological mother passed away a long time ago. The care worker questioned the child who disclosed that she was sexually abused by her father’s brother who also stayed with them. She confronted the step mother who asked the child why she did not tell her. Lindiwe said that she was afraid because her father’s brother threatened to kill her should she talk to anyone about it. On the advice of the care worker the step mother then opened a criminal case against her brother in law. He was arrested but released on bail, which caused a huge problem because he was staying under the same roof as the victim. The Child Protection Forum ensured that the offender moved out of the house. We advised the step mother to take Lindiwe to the social worker for therapy. We accompanied the child to the clinic for HIV testing and counseling. Lindiwe tested positively and was placed on antiretroviral treatment.

We visit Lindiwe regularly comforting her and ensuring that she takes her medicine regularly. We are all very happy because Lindiwe is safe; she is taking her medication and gets psychological support. She is no longer scared and plays with other children at school and at our Centre. As Sizanani we are proud that we have assisted Lindiwe to overcome a very traumatic experience.”

*Not her real name