Interviews

Volunteers :: Staff Members :: Centre Teenagers ::

Volunteers

Nikki and Sarah are two young women who are doing their Masters in Educational Psychology at Wits, they come every week as part of their course to work at the Centre. Wits have being sending students to do this for six years. They spend one and a half hours in the morning doing group work with the caregivers and then they split up and spend an hour each with the children. Their module lasts for six months.

Nikki Barnfather

Nikki Barnfather with the younger children

Nikki explains that the time they spend with the caregivers in the mornings involves intervention – it is a support group where they do problem solving, group therapy, and stimulation exercises together, and with the children. For the caregivers, the sessions give them the opportunity and the space to talk about their problems.

In her individual sessions, Nikki looks after the children from Grade 4 to Grade 7. They do activities, discuss issues they may be having and try to encourage and develop self-awareness. She says it’s really good for the children to interact and do all these activities. Already, one of the girls in Nikki’s group has told her that she is not as shy as she used to be. In another session, the children were discussing their favourite songs and lyrics, and one of the children said that the lyrics from Justin Bieber’s Pray were very special to her. Nikki found this very poignant.

Nikki is hoping that the sessions with the caregivers can continue when she and Sarah leave, because they are so worthwhile and important. She has learned so much, and has gained so much satisfaction realising how strong the caregivers and the children are, in spite of their history and circumstances. She also says that her time working at the Centre has definitely helped her in her professional development, in her ability to do group work and with her own personal shyness!

Sarah Tinsley-Myerscough

Sarah Tinsley-Myerscough with the teenagers

Like Nikki, Sarah says that their group sessions with the caregivers create a space for them to talk about how they find their work and about their problems, and that it’s a chance to ‘serve the servers.’ They all share their cases, and find the support to solve or at least discuss the problems and potential solutions. They also conduct self-awareness and growth exercises within the caregivers group, and practice just being still, and meditating.

Sarah takes the teenagers for her individual sessions. She tries to instil self-awareness and an idea of who they are. Obviously, as teenagers it can be quite difficult to draw them out within the group, but she has got around this by asking them to create posters about who they are, who their best friends are, where have they come from, what they want to do in the future, and what their hopes and dreams are. The teenagers have gained confidence and built their self-esteem from these sessions, and have loved doing it.

Sarah hopes these sessions have helped the caregivers and the children to see the future, realise that they are unique and that they are entitled to their own talents, hopes and dreams. She says it has been a privilege to walk alongside these people and to try and be a force for good in their lives during this period.

Interview with Centre Staff Member

Magret

Magret is the CCC education co-ordinator. She came to South Africa in 2003, after doing her primary training in Zimbabwe, and started at the Centre in 2007. She is responsible for all levels of learning, but her special focus is on the pre-school.

She says it is so important for the children to start their education at a young age, as it helps them with their vocabulary and speech, and allows any learning problems to be caught while there is still a chance to do something about them. It’s really difficult for the children to start at school if they don’t have that foundation of English and reading - some of them come to the Centre without understanding a word of English. So, as soon as they are out of nappies, they come to the crèche, where they start hearing it spoken. And at the pre-school, they hear it all around them in lessons, and are read to every day. A couple of times a week different volunteers come in and read stories and rhymes to the children. The children love it and even the toddlers come to listen. Magret has seen the benefits of this ‘early start’ first-hand - three of the Centre’s children who started at the pre-school have done exceptionally well at Fairview primary school and two of them have been sponsored by Rennies Travel to do Grade 4 at McAuley House.

It’s also important for Magret to make sure that there is support for the children with learning disabilities. One of the girls, a 4 year old, is deaf, and attends Sizwile School for the Deaf. Her brother is 2 years old; when he is out of nappies he will go there too. The care givers are assisted in this by a program called High Hopes, which is an early intervention program that helps with families of deaf or hard of hearing children between birth and three years old. They have helped teach the caregivers how to communicate with their deaf children in sign language. Some of the children are also taken to the Wits Emthonjeni Centre for assessment and therapy. They offer psychological, social work, speech pathology and audiology services to the public. And, when some of the children are in Grade 10 and 11 and are discouraged because they are not coping or doing well, there is a program called Give Me Wings which encourages them to learn skills like beading, arts, and attending South African chef classes where they learn to bake, cook and work in a kitchen.

Magret says it is wonderful to go home and see that you have done your part, and admits that none of this would be possible without the volunteers. The girls from Rhodean come every Monday afternoon. On Monday evenings Nicky reads to the toddlers and on Tuesdays Bronwyn comes in the morning. Josephine, who is a retired high school teacher, helps with English and her husband helps the children with maths. Nicole from Australia helps with homework and reading, and Mthabinseng from Wits has trained five of the caregivers. Sarah Mahlo also comes in to help. Magret says that homework sessions for the children are so important, and that volunteers for this are still desperately needed.

Centre Teenagers

These two interviews are with two teenagers at the care centre who have done really well. Bongile is in Matric, and Ben is at college, which is a fantastic achievement for him and a tribute to the Centre.

Bongikele Vilakazi

Bongile is 18, and in Matric at St Enda’s in Johannesburg. She is very chatty and personable, and very involved at the Centre, standing in for the caregivers, taking part in the worship team, singing and helping create plays and activities. She was born in Joburg, and then sent to Kwazulu Natal to stay with her Aunt and their family. She says she had a pretty tough time there (but prefers not to elaborate), and eventually came back to stay with her mother & brothers when she was in Grade 6. Her mother was unemployed so there wasn’t enough money to support the children and for her to go to school. However, a social worker got involved and took her to the Care Centre, where she has been for the last six years. She still sees her family when she can.

Bongile says that staying at the Centre has helped her achieve so much that would never have been possible if she hadn’t been there. Being in Grade 12 feels like a huge achievement, since so many of her peers have not been able to do that. Also she has become a Christian. When she arrived at the Centre she says she didn’t know God, but learned about Him by being there. Her best subject is computers, and she would like to do a travel and management diploma at college in Randburg when she passes matric, if they can find a sponsor. She would like to say ‘thank you’ to the Centre and its supporters for everything they have made possible for her. If it wasn’t for them she wouldn’t be here doing Matric and knowing God.

Ben Foko

Ben is 19, and was born in Mafikeng. He was living in Johannesburg with his three brothers and his parents, who were unemployed, when he met a social worker who took him to the Centre. Like Bongile, he has been there for six years. He has recently started at Ekurhuleni college doing a three year diploma in electrical infrastructure. He is finding it challenging, but has high hopes, and is passing and enjoying it.

He says that living at the Centre has been so much better than where he came from. He has made good friends there, and has learned about Christianity. When he is finished he would like to study further, but definitely get a job. He really appreciates the opportunity the Centre has given him to get an education and make something of himself. They have given him a home. He is so grateful to the sponsors who have ensured that he has had the support to make himself a better person, and says, “thank you for all of your support and for being patient.”