TOGETHER WE ARE STRONGER...CHILD AND YOUTH CARE IN SOUTH AFRICA

  
Dr. Kiaras Gharabaghi, keynote speaker at the 2019 National Association of Child and Youth Care (NACCW) 22nd Biennial & 4th CYC-Net World Conference held in July in Durban, South Africa, commented on his experience of the Welcoming Function and the first few hours of the opening of the Conference. He said It was the vibe among child and youth care workers…”and the most amazing thing is that you all know each other”. Child and youth care workers being relational in our practice with young people and children in our various contexts is a given. Kiaras Gharabaghi’s comment turned the cogs and wheels. What about the relational experience among ourselves – child and youth care workers as a collective? I can only draw on the South African experience. In its formative years, the National Association of Child and Youth Care Workers (NACCW) had only one staff member – Brian Gannon, the National Director. I reflected on how the association somehow survived unbanned with its non-racial membership, within the context of apartheid and the separation of peoples. And that we now witness today, Kiaras’ words “you all know each other” and that he was amazed. Brian Gannon travelled the length and breadth of South Africa (and it’s not a small country). He was able to remember, use and greet everyone by name. Did I say “all”? Well, pretty well all the child and youth care workers he met. If he didn’t know a child and youth care worker’s name, he would ask someone and then use the person’s name. We learnt to know each other by first name. We connected as child and youth care workers who had in common some extraordinary stressors – coinciding challenges of the endemic HIV/AIDS, poverty and orphan crises with nearly non-existent professional recognition, within a context of racial divide that affected funding of services. Challenges that were at times foreign and misunderstood by outsiders. Our shared uniqueness in the South African context draws us together.  It reminds me of the powerful comradeship, the brotherhood and sisterhood of an African people shaped as a result of sharing apartheid oppression and a common cause.      

The nucleus of about 300 NACCW members were family… a rapidly growing family. Child and youth care workers in South Africa demonstrated relationship in action. Toward each other we reflected all the qualities which make up the relational practice we have with young people and children: engagement, warmth, unconditional acceptance, empathy, and being present. We hug.  At a fairly early NACCW Conference, Ashley Theron, the then National Chairperson said, “Stand up. Ask the person behind you their name. Greet that person by name. Now hug that person.” A hugging explosion shook the Centre. We are now a hugging profession. One with the other. None of this 30cm distance thing. Full warm hugs. You meet, you greet, you ask a name, you hug. And we sing together. Singing in Africa is inseparable from dance, swaying and following each other in movement. Singing and laughing are great de-stressors. I can’t think of another profession that has its own songs. We sing them together. When apart, we stay in touch with one another. Social groups, social media groups, WhatsApp groups. I heard it said in South African Government circles, “Let anything be said or happen in the child and youth care field and within 24 hours …they all know!”. There are a number of social media child and youth care groups which maintain a high volume steady flow of information and comments. It means that child and youth care workers are in constant connectedness. Recently on social media the word “Tribe” was used to describe this relational connectedness … belonging together as child and youth care workers. I like the word. It speaks of Africa. More significantly, it describes us well. It put us together in a group that shares a common ancestry, sometimes a name, a common culture. There is a special relationship in being a member of a common tribe. What is the spin off in our relational connectedness in and among South African child and youth care professionals? I think that this is a chicken and egg thing. Which in South Africa came first? Child and youth care relational practice or the relational child and youth care sector? As a sector, I believe, our relational nature contributed to our professionalization. First in the growth from a support group of child and youth care workers, then to a country wide move for recognition. Child and youth care workers in South Africa were relationally united, they supported each other in a nationwide movement for recognition. It was a struggle, and the struggle bonded us.
     
Child and youth care workers in South Africa are very much a “helpmekaar” as it is said in Afrikaans, … a co-operative … a “help each other” community. I can’t ever forget struggling and being ready to give up. Without announcement, Brian Gannon and the first Chairperson of the NACCW travelled by air to support and encourage me. Just me. The seeds of the relational child and youth profession in South Africa were sown. The benefit of child and youth care workers being in a warm relational connectedness, lies with the children and young people in our programmes. I was once told that child and youth care workers in independent private practice may struggle because child and youth care work is team based. It is true I think. Even now writing this, I miss discussing ideas with others. Nelson Mandela said, “Together we are stronger”. Being relational as a body of professionals considerably benefits the young people in care. Being relational among ourselves underscores the whole message and meaning of relational practice. I am grateful as a child and youth care professional to have been held in the embrace of what I call “family”. And I can agree with Kiaras Gharabaghi “… and the most amazing thing is that you all know each other.”  

First published in Relational Child and Youth Care Practice Volume 32 Number 4