1. Some of my best memories I have are of that place. Especially when we broke into the Tuck Shop and stole chocolate bars then shared them out among the others.
2. We were like a family. The other kids were my family.
3. There is a time of my life I want rather to forget. I cant remember being in the Home. Were you at that place?
4.We called it the boys hostel, and so did my mother, so that others wouldn't know.
5. I always say that the time I spent in the Home was the best thing that ever happened to me - but I ll tell you - I had a terrible time !!
Two changes were taking place at the same time.... one was the admission of black children and the other was the shift from the dormitory system to the Group Home system .In that time many comments were made by past boys that reflected the difficulty they had in imagining the place to be no longer the way they remembered it.... and a lot of resentment. Here are three among many:
6. ANONYMOUS TELEPHONE CALL When I saw you on TV putting your arm round that black kid, I knew you had sold us out - we will find you in the street and kill you.
7. I am finishing the writing of the history of the Home with your arrival. At your arrival its history as we knew it..... finished.
8. REASSURING THE PRESENT GROUP.... don't worry in three months we'll have him out of here.
Friday 29 June 2012
Monday 25 June 2012
Child rape .....so now for the 'Safe Village'
Again over recent months in our television broadcasts and other media, we have been inundated with reports of child abuse and child rapes.
The Star newspaper of 20th June 2012 has a whole front page that speaks out on the pattern that has made headline stories. "CHILDREN IN PERIL" it reads. The editor has commented right under this headline. "Rape speaks of rot." After listing several instances of child rape which he calls correctly, "unimaginably cruel and wicked depravity. "The guilty", he says, "are to be arrested, prosecuted and punished".
In the article itself are statistics and case reports,allegations of lack of clarity on the seriousness of the statistics, allegations of non-submission of statistics or misrepresentation.
The editorial finishes with the comment " It takes a village to raise a child" , then concludes, "our village is rotten to the core".
Many of the cases we have experienced and and are quoted, are at Childhood Development Centres and schools where teachers and others have child supervisory responsibilities. Questions are asked about the child offender's register and its reliability in maintaining a list of people who are not permitted to work with children. All around everyone and everything is being seen as a weakness in the child protection system.
The editorial says that arrest, prosecution and punishment must apply also to those who have failed these children "whether they be elders or social workers."
Well, maybe we have all failed these children. The village is not "rotten to the core". The village has lost something of its traditional system of u'Buntu. It is unprepared , disorganised, ignorant of the signs that identify risk and those who are the initiators of child sexual abuse, and of the signs of the situations that place children at risk.
The spate of instances of child abuse and rape in the media reports is not new. In 2001, the then similar media frenzie on the same issue, sparked President Mbeki to write in ANC Today (30th Nov. 2001) " Central to their eradication is the action of the people themselves.......The outrage we have all expressed against the rape of children must be translated into determined and sustained activity by all of us to protect our children from those who have lost their souls"
BUT HOW ?
Again,that 20th June editorial. " It takes a village to raise a child" and " when will the country act?"
The Isibindi model of care has been instrumental in establishing "Safe Parks" in many villages throughout the country. 65 square meters of safe play space for children with trained child and youth care workers providing the professional skills and knowledge that can read situations of risk, children at risk and children who may have been exposed to abuse.
In 2002, two articles appeared in the NACCW Journal "Child and Youth Care"' (Vol 20 No 4 April 2002) which made the point that the village has to be helped to be structured again to re-establish the lost culture of u'Buntu and to empower its people to protect its children.
This article is putting forward again, ideas that were expressed in those two 2002 articles to now take the ideas of the "Safe Park" and expand then into the "Safe Village"
The editorial is right... it's time.!!
There are two ideas here. The one comes from the article by Barrie Lodge who wrote then like this " Communities must be helped and the child and youth care worker is ideally positioned to provide this help in the following ways:
Buyi Mbambo in her article of the same journal has some practical ideas to bring back the safety of the village she once knew It is suggested in this model that a starting point be made in the training and co-operation of 5 homes in one street or block be gathered for the training and that they form a circle of care for the children in that block. They are trained to know where the adults are and the children are. That they walk together, that they take common responsibility for the children and the children for each other.
A combination of these two models could make for a safer village
The village is not "rotten to the core". Actually the village is good at working systems and to organise itself .
The village is concerned and the village cares. It just has to regain something of the traditionalism it has lost and be helped with the knowledge and skills to know risk and when the cues are hinted in the life of the village and its people.
Child and youth care workers are ideally positioned to take a lead in what we must now do....they have the "Safe Park " model.
It takes a village to raise a child.... so come on... for the sake of the children, villagers.... lets do it!!.
The Star newspaper of 20th June 2012 has a whole front page that speaks out on the pattern that has made headline stories. "CHILDREN IN PERIL" it reads. The editor has commented right under this headline. "Rape speaks of rot." After listing several instances of child rape which he calls correctly, "unimaginably cruel and wicked depravity. "The guilty", he says, "are to be arrested, prosecuted and punished".
In the article itself are statistics and case reports,allegations of lack of clarity on the seriousness of the statistics, allegations of non-submission of statistics or misrepresentation.
The editorial finishes with the comment " It takes a village to raise a child" , then concludes, "our village is rotten to the core".
Many of the cases we have experienced and and are quoted, are at Childhood Development Centres and schools where teachers and others have child supervisory responsibilities. Questions are asked about the child offender's register and its reliability in maintaining a list of people who are not permitted to work with children. All around everyone and everything is being seen as a weakness in the child protection system.
The editorial says that arrest, prosecution and punishment must apply also to those who have failed these children "whether they be elders or social workers."
Well, maybe we have all failed these children. The village is not "rotten to the core". The village has lost something of its traditional system of u'Buntu. It is unprepared , disorganised, ignorant of the signs that identify risk and those who are the initiators of child sexual abuse, and of the signs of the situations that place children at risk.
The spate of instances of child abuse and rape in the media reports is not new. In 2001, the then similar media frenzie on the same issue, sparked President Mbeki to write in ANC Today (30th Nov. 2001) " Central to their eradication is the action of the people themselves.......The outrage we have all expressed against the rape of children must be translated into determined and sustained activity by all of us to protect our children from those who have lost their souls"
BUT HOW ?
Again,that 20th June editorial. " It takes a village to raise a child" and " when will the country act?"
The Isibindi model of care has been instrumental in establishing "Safe Parks" in many villages throughout the country. 65 square meters of safe play space for children with trained child and youth care workers providing the professional skills and knowledge that can read situations of risk, children at risk and children who may have been exposed to abuse.
In 2002, two articles appeared in the NACCW Journal "Child and Youth Care"' (Vol 20 No 4 April 2002) which made the point that the village has to be helped to be structured again to re-establish the lost culture of u'Buntu and to empower its people to protect its children.
This article is putting forward again, ideas that were expressed in those two 2002 articles to now take the ideas of the "Safe Park" and expand then into the "Safe Village"
The editorial is right... it's time.!!
There are two ideas here. The one comes from the article by Barrie Lodge who wrote then like this " Communities must be helped and the child and youth care worker is ideally positioned to provide this help in the following ways:
- to recognise the signs of risk and the potential for abuse
- to be shown how and to whom the silence can be broken without putting themselves (whistle-blowers) at risk
- to refer to a multi- displinary network of trusted people who follow tried and professional protocol for dealing with concerns at the preventative level."
Buyi Mbambo in her article of the same journal has some practical ideas to bring back the safety of the village she once knew It is suggested in this model that a starting point be made in the training and co-operation of 5 homes in one street or block be gathered for the training and that they form a circle of care for the children in that block. They are trained to know where the adults are and the children are. That they walk together, that they take common responsibility for the children and the children for each other.
A combination of these two models could make for a safer village
The village is not "rotten to the core". Actually the village is good at working systems and to organise itself .
The village is concerned and the village cares. It just has to regain something of the traditionalism it has lost and be helped with the knowledge and skills to know risk and when the cues are hinted in the life of the village and its people.
Child and youth care workers are ideally positioned to take a lead in what we must now do....they have the "Safe Park " model.
It takes a village to raise a child.... so come on... for the sake of the children, villagers.... lets do it!!.
Tuesday 19 June 2012
Officials said this....Thoughts for talk 7
1. On seeking professional advice following an instance of bestiality. " Did the dog's behaviour change?"
2. " The parents are neglecting these two children. There is no food in the cupboards"
3. "The care here is not satisfactory. The children's wardrobes,... when I opened them and looked - their clothes were untidy, - not neatly packed like my own children at my house"
4 "If you have a problem, you come to me, not to your Director"
5. "Chairing a family meeting or writing an Individual or Family Development Plan is not the work of a child and youth care worker."
6."The children have head-lice. - they get them from the Children's Home. (Treatment Centre)"
ME: They could get them from their own homes, The parents need to be helped, and shown how to use the shampoo"
" I don't do that!"
7. "These two (black African) children have deteriorated since they have been in this place. I can tell. They don't look at me when I talk to them "
2. " The parents are neglecting these two children. There is no food in the cupboards"
3. "The care here is not satisfactory. The children's wardrobes,... when I opened them and looked - their clothes were untidy, - not neatly packed like my own children at my house"
4 "If you have a problem, you come to me, not to your Director"
5. "Chairing a family meeting or writing an Individual or Family Development Plan is not the work of a child and youth care worker."
6."The children have head-lice. - they get them from the Children's Home. (Treatment Centre)"
ME: They could get them from their own homes, The parents need to be helped, and shown how to use the shampoo"
" I don't do that!"
7. "These two (black African) children have deteriorated since they have been in this place. I can tell. They don't look at me when I talk to them "
Tuesday 12 June 2012
an Apartheid story........or is it ?
The advantage of the group home system is that the facility, and so the children are living a residential life in an ordinary street, with ordinary neighbours in an ordinary community.
Then again, child and youth care workers in group homes have to work not only with a group of children, but with ordinary streets, ordinary neighbours and ordinary communities. The formula allows for learning opportunities for everyone. It comes with its own set of challenges, especially in South Africa when the group home is predominantly mixed race and diverse, and the neighbourhood isn't.
It was like that in the group home in Johannesburg. All the usual apartheid stereotypes were reversed there. What the neighbourhood expected as 'normal" or "ordinary" simply didn't apply. Children and staff were mixed, young/old, white/black, boys/girls, male workers/female workers, all mixed and all in the child and youth care melting pot.
The neighbourhood 'cookie cutter" mind says, men look after boys, women can look after girls and boys but after a certain age, boys must definitely be cared for by men. White men can work with white boys or black boys, whilst black men don't provide child care services to girls, black or white....... That was the cookie cutter mindset ....and worse... that shaped the neighbourhood.
But this group home was a melting pot. It meant that Maleka, a black male child and youth care worker had full responsibility for the diverse group during his shift..
In the group was Rianna, a 14 year old white girl . Rianna was somewhat unpredictable, lively, bright, argumentative and not a little defiant.
Time has buried the actual situation that led to this, but it was early evening, still very light outside, when she got it into her head to run. So there she went - out of the house, into the street, past the neighbours, into the community. Maleka gave chase - - simple, he would catch up to her before she got too far and reason her back into the house.
A burly white man stood at his neighbourhood gate, smoking, and watched them coming. Then his cookie cutter mind clicked into its' cookie cutter shape. He watched as Rianna ran past him. Then as Maleka was three paces before the gate he quickly stepped out, very roughly grabbed Maleka and said, "I'm going to call the police. What did you do to that girl. You up to no good . You'll go to jail chasing a white girl like that . You'll go to jail ....you'll see."
The police were called.
No amount of explanation helped
Rianna disappeared into the streets.
Then again, child and youth care workers in group homes have to work not only with a group of children, but with ordinary streets, ordinary neighbours and ordinary communities. The formula allows for learning opportunities for everyone. It comes with its own set of challenges, especially in South Africa when the group home is predominantly mixed race and diverse, and the neighbourhood isn't.
It was like that in the group home in Johannesburg. All the usual apartheid stereotypes were reversed there. What the neighbourhood expected as 'normal" or "ordinary" simply didn't apply. Children and staff were mixed, young/old, white/black, boys/girls, male workers/female workers, all mixed and all in the child and youth care melting pot.
The neighbourhood 'cookie cutter" mind says, men look after boys, women can look after girls and boys but after a certain age, boys must definitely be cared for by men. White men can work with white boys or black boys, whilst black men don't provide child care services to girls, black or white....... That was the cookie cutter mindset ....and worse... that shaped the neighbourhood.
But this group home was a melting pot. It meant that Maleka, a black male child and youth care worker had full responsibility for the diverse group during his shift..
In the group was Rianna, a 14 year old white girl . Rianna was somewhat unpredictable, lively, bright, argumentative and not a little defiant.
Time has buried the actual situation that led to this, but it was early evening, still very light outside, when she got it into her head to run. So there she went - out of the house, into the street, past the neighbours, into the community. Maleka gave chase - - simple, he would catch up to her before she got too far and reason her back into the house.
A burly white man stood at his neighbourhood gate, smoking, and watched them coming. Then his cookie cutter mind clicked into its' cookie cutter shape. He watched as Rianna ran past him. Then as Maleka was three paces before the gate he quickly stepped out, very roughly grabbed Maleka and said, "I'm going to call the police. What did you do to that girl. You up to no good . You'll go to jail chasing a white girl like that . You'll go to jail ....you'll see."
The police were called.
No amount of explanation helped
Rianna disappeared into the streets.
Saturday 9 June 2012
The Love Project
The intention from the beginning was to do good, to help others.
Two brave middle-aged women , themselves living in appalling poverty understood that others like themselves needed help. Especially as HIV and AIDS had ravaged the village. There were orphans, sick people, all poor, all needing support like never before. They started by visiting the sick. They begged donations of food, clothing, blankets ...... anything............... And it came
As they were themselves poor and in similar circumstances to the people they served , the organisation they set up to serve others, served them as well. They were provided for through the same donations. They called themselves the Love Project. The workers formed themselves into the Management Committee which then met every week to plan the programme and the clients needs With 150 orphans alone on their lists, and many more families, sponsorship, training and regular donations in kind followed fairly easily. The poor helping the poor with the workers as clients in their own organisation. It all made sense. " We are poor aren't we?"
The program expanded quite rapidly and included then a Literacy Training Programme, an Early Childhood Development Programme, A Home-based Care Service .and other programmes.at least one of which generated a little income. For Home- Based Care the Government paid a stipend to the workers, who still regarded themselves as clients in the project they were managing.
Power struggles and conflict arose in the worker/management system in the Love Project especially when the more trained workers challenged the two founders. The result of this was that issues of ownership splintered the Committee and some workers claimed sub-projects as their own and independence from the main Love Project Body.They took the donated equipment and resources with them.
What sense does all this make to the sick people, the orphans,the children in need of care, the ones in need of literacy training and the poorest of the poor all served in the same organisational system?
Of concern is the "trickle down' effect. If management is experienced as benefiting by donated goods in kind seen to be meant for the client. If power games, splitting, pairing and conflict without resolution except to claim ownership is the culture of the organisations. Then what are the children learning about the world and the way it works. What are the children likely to grow into?
The intention was always, from the very start, to do good.
Two brave middle-aged women , themselves living in appalling poverty understood that others like themselves needed help. Especially as HIV and AIDS had ravaged the village. There were orphans, sick people, all poor, all needing support like never before. They started by visiting the sick. They begged donations of food, clothing, blankets ...... anything............... And it came
As they were themselves poor and in similar circumstances to the people they served , the organisation they set up to serve others, served them as well. They were provided for through the same donations. They called themselves the Love Project. The workers formed themselves into the Management Committee which then met every week to plan the programme and the clients needs With 150 orphans alone on their lists, and many more families, sponsorship, training and regular donations in kind followed fairly easily. The poor helping the poor with the workers as clients in their own organisation. It all made sense. " We are poor aren't we?"
The program expanded quite rapidly and included then a Literacy Training Programme, an Early Childhood Development Programme, A Home-based Care Service .and other programmes.at least one of which generated a little income. For Home- Based Care the Government paid a stipend to the workers, who still regarded themselves as clients in the project they were managing.
Power struggles and conflict arose in the worker/management system in the Love Project especially when the more trained workers challenged the two founders. The result of this was that issues of ownership splintered the Committee and some workers claimed sub-projects as their own and independence from the main Love Project Body.They took the donated equipment and resources with them.
What sense does all this make to the sick people, the orphans,the children in need of care, the ones in need of literacy training and the poorest of the poor all served in the same organisational system?
Of concern is the "trickle down' effect. If management is experienced as benefiting by donated goods in kind seen to be meant for the client. If power games, splitting, pairing and conflict without resolution except to claim ownership is the culture of the organisations. Then what are the children learning about the world and the way it works. What are the children likely to grow into?
The intention was always, from the very start, to do good.
Thursday 7 June 2012
Children did this... thoughts for talk 6
1 The young person who was the senior server in the chapel, stored his marijuana in the tabernacle behind the altar .He reasoned that nobody ever looked in there and he had a key.
2.They broke into the dininghall one night and silently removed all the furniture. They set it all up outside on the "parade ground" (atrium) in exactly the same way as it was in the diningroom. Next morning early, a round of telephone calls among the staff and we colluded to pretend that it was not a surprise and to carry on asif nothing had happened. Absolutely without comment breakfast was served.
In the afternoon after school we all laughed about it.
3 Asked a resident child care worker to look after his pot-plant during the holidays. The child care dutifully watered and cared for it for the duration of the holiday and handed it back. .... He didn't know it was a potted marijuana plant.
4. There was full fire-drill one night with alarms, fire-tenders and hosepipes arriving . There had to be a full evacuation of the houses and a roll-call. The firemen checked each house for any stragglers. A boy was stopped re-entering a house. When the fireman asked what he was doing , the boy said " I left my skateboard in there !"
5 A real fire this time !! The drill in this group home was that a rope with knots and ribbons was used to mark a place for each child. The child care worker could easily check that there was a child at each marker to lead the young people to the assembly point outside. As she did so, a half sleep adolescent broke away, went back into the house went to the toilet and had a very long pee.
.
2.They broke into the dininghall one night and silently removed all the furniture. They set it all up outside on the "parade ground" (atrium) in exactly the same way as it was in the diningroom. Next morning early, a round of telephone calls among the staff and we colluded to pretend that it was not a surprise and to carry on asif nothing had happened. Absolutely without comment breakfast was served.
In the afternoon after school we all laughed about it.
3 Asked a resident child care worker to look after his pot-plant during the holidays. The child care dutifully watered and cared for it for the duration of the holiday and handed it back. .... He didn't know it was a potted marijuana plant.
4. There was full fire-drill one night with alarms, fire-tenders and hosepipes arriving . There had to be a full evacuation of the houses and a roll-call. The firemen checked each house for any stragglers. A boy was stopped re-entering a house. When the fireman asked what he was doing , the boy said " I left my skateboard in there !"
5 A real fire this time !! The drill in this group home was that a rope with knots and ribbons was used to mark a place for each child. The child care worker could easily check that there was a child at each marker to lead the young people to the assembly point outside. As she did so, a half sleep adolescent broke away, went back into the house went to the toilet and had a very long pee.
.
Friday 1 June 2012
"Its our culture".. child care workers, what say you?
It's June, the month of the initiation schools.. It is toward the end of this month that the newspapers will feature stories of young boys who go to the initiation schools to participate in the rites of passage into manhood especially Xhosa boys ... the Abakwetha. At the height of this rite is performed the act of circumcision (Ukwalusa).
On 30th of June 2010, for example The Daily Sun recorded a count of deaths among these boys as 40 in that month alone _ with dozens more lying wounded in hospitals. The blame is placed on 'ligcibi' traditional surgeons , the men who perform the circumcision. Many the newspapers say are "untrained and greedy ".
City Press of 27 June 2010 also records " initiates have filled up the hospital wards" - many have had to have their penis's amputated to save them.
According to MSN ZA News by SAPA 2010/12/03, Four brothers took revenge against such a bogus traditional surgeon. They stabbed and circumcised him.
Everything is being done to ensure that health regulations and proper procedures are followed initiation schools. Officials say they will close down initiation schools that do not comply with rules and regulations governing them because ignoring the requirements put the children at risk ( Traditional Affairs Minister 28 June 2010) But yet these unfortunate deaths and wounds continue and similar reports appeared last year 2011
It's June and time for the initiation schools.
Hospitals and now especially opened clinics perform circumcision. ( the clinics are a bid to reduce infection of HIV and AIDS, as research supports circumcision as a inhibiting factor in the spread of the disease.) But parents and boys want to go through the entire traditional rite to manhood. And you can't blame them ""it's our culture".
Ethical questions then arise for professional child and youth care workers in Africa.
What will you say and do when you have boys in your program and when they and their parents insist on the full rite, in the remote hills, in the traditional way.?
What will you say and do?
It is an ethical dilemma that comes out of the tensions that frequently exist between professional ethics and culture in Africa.
Here are some more:
Virginity testing.
A father in your program insists that his daughter of 14 year also in you care, serves him at table by entering the dining area from the kitchen with a plate of food whilst on her knees and shuffles on her knees across the room to hold out the plate of food to him.
A young unmarried Zulu mother in your program with a new-born child tells you that the child is particularly restless and constantly crying.She intends having the baby cut with 'elevenses'. This procedure involves the baby being cut around the naval with four sets of two parallel cuts that look like the number 11. This, she says will settle the child.
A young male in your care approaches you and tells you that his family want him to participate in the Ukweshwama Harvest Festival. He wants to do this because his father really wants him to participate in the ceremony. It has to do with his manhood in the Zulu traditional culture. It will win his father's approval which he has never otherwise had.. You find out that in this ceremony about 20 Zulu youths slaughter a bull with their bare hands. You also learn that witnesses have reported that the eyes of the bull are gouged out, the tongue pulled from its mouth, the genitals twisted and soil pushed into its mouth to suffocate it to death.
Ethical dilemmas that come out of the tensions between culture and professional ethics.
When it is... 'our culture'....... What will you say and do as a child and youth care worker in Africa ?
On 30th of June 2010, for example The Daily Sun recorded a count of deaths among these boys as 40 in that month alone _ with dozens more lying wounded in hospitals. The blame is placed on 'ligcibi' traditional surgeons , the men who perform the circumcision. Many the newspapers say are "untrained and greedy ".
City Press of 27 June 2010 also records " initiates have filled up the hospital wards" - many have had to have their penis's amputated to save them.
According to MSN ZA News by SAPA 2010/12/03, Four brothers took revenge against such a bogus traditional surgeon. They stabbed and circumcised him.
Everything is being done to ensure that health regulations and proper procedures are followed initiation schools. Officials say they will close down initiation schools that do not comply with rules and regulations governing them because ignoring the requirements put the children at risk ( Traditional Affairs Minister 28 June 2010) But yet these unfortunate deaths and wounds continue and similar reports appeared last year 2011
It's June and time for the initiation schools.
Hospitals and now especially opened clinics perform circumcision. ( the clinics are a bid to reduce infection of HIV and AIDS, as research supports circumcision as a inhibiting factor in the spread of the disease.) But parents and boys want to go through the entire traditional rite to manhood. And you can't blame them ""it's our culture".
Ethical questions then arise for professional child and youth care workers in Africa.
What will you say and do when you have boys in your program and when they and their parents insist on the full rite, in the remote hills, in the traditional way.?
What will you say and do?
It is an ethical dilemma that comes out of the tensions that frequently exist between professional ethics and culture in Africa.
Here are some more:
Virginity testing.
A father in your program insists that his daughter of 14 year also in you care, serves him at table by entering the dining area from the kitchen with a plate of food whilst on her knees and shuffles on her knees across the room to hold out the plate of food to him.
A young unmarried Zulu mother in your program with a new-born child tells you that the child is particularly restless and constantly crying.She intends having the baby cut with 'elevenses'. This procedure involves the baby being cut around the naval with four sets of two parallel cuts that look like the number 11. This, she says will settle the child.
A young male in your care approaches you and tells you that his family want him to participate in the Ukweshwama Harvest Festival. He wants to do this because his father really wants him to participate in the ceremony. It has to do with his manhood in the Zulu traditional culture. It will win his father's approval which he has never otherwise had.. You find out that in this ceremony about 20 Zulu youths slaughter a bull with their bare hands. You also learn that witnesses have reported that the eyes of the bull are gouged out, the tongue pulled from its mouth, the genitals twisted and soil pushed into its mouth to suffocate it to death.
Ethical dilemmas that come out of the tensions between culture and professional ethics.
When it is... 'our culture'....... What will you say and do as a child and youth care worker in Africa ?
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