Quality Care for Vulnerable Children

Objectives:

· To provide a home for vulnerable children and children orphaned by HIV / AIDS.

· To install in them an Identity and Christian Values. (Values which include: respect for self, other and the environment; acceptance, love, compassion.)

· To further the educational development of these children.

The Beginnings

On April 24, 1997, a school-going girl in labour was waiting for an ambulance to arrive so that she could give birth to her child under medical supervision. The ambulance arrived late, the result: she gave birth to her daughter on the grass next to the church at Kenosis. A few weeks later she lost her battle against HIV and died of AIDS. The baby was cared for in Kenosis until she was adopted by a family, who then worked on the neighbouring farm.

Through this incident, as well as the growing number of AIDS deaths in the immediate vicinity, Kenosis became sensitive to the alarming growth of the AIDS epidemic in Kwazulu-Natal. At the end of November 1997 Kenosis joined CINDI, an organisation co-ordinating efforts to alleviate the plight of Children in Distress. With the help of CINDI as well as the support of "AIDS and CHILD, Swiss Foundation for Direct Assistance to Children Affected by AIDS", the Kenosis AIDS Orphans Project was launched.

Deciding on an appropriate Model for Care

CINDI had studied various models of care for orphaned children:
- The most basic and therefore most preferred approach is to accommodate orphaned children within the extended family.
- If this is no longer feasible, subsititute or foster care families within communities need to be identified who would care for the children.
- This can lead to a third level where foster mothers live together with small groups of orphans within a community setting.
(Orphanages are considered only a last resort, when all other options seem not appropriate.)

CINDI therefore advised Kenosis to go the route of Cluster Foster Homes.

As Kenosis lies in the midst of a Farming Community, the model developed in Zimbabwe by the Farmers Orphans Support Trust (FOST) seemed most appropriate. FOST is a national programme which seeks to encourage commercial farmers to get involved in caring for orphaned children on their farms. "The programme is based on the belief that orphaned children have the best opportunity for development within a family, remaining in their family groups without sibling seperation, in an enviroment that is familiar and where they can learn their culture first hand." (Dr Sue Perry) Kenosis chose to go this route, which CINDI supported.

The AIDS Orphans Project TODAY - February 2005

Much has happened since those first investigations and developments. Three houses have been built for Foster Care, and three other houses which are occupied by families that work at Kenosis. The set-up is generally known as 'our village'. Each foster home has a foster mother, and can house up to six children. In other words a total of 18 children can be fostered at Kenosis. The Foster Mothers have family members or friends staying with them to assist in the care of the children. At present we have 18 children living in our village.

Who are the Kenosis Foster Children?

Kenosis's policy is to offer care, love, give safety and education to children in distress and give them the opportunity to be children, as is their right. The children in the care of Kenosis come from various backgrounds and situations. Some were abandoned as babies by their mothers, and therefore there are no records as to where they 'really belong'. Others come from abusive situations: either physical, emotional or sexual, or a combination of these. Still others have been orphaned by AIDS. In other words, the children are not only 'AIDS orphans' per se. However, given the statistics of HIV / AIDS in South Africa, it is our opinion that there are hardly any children that are not affected by AIDS in one way or the other.

Who are the Foster Mothers?

Thandelkile Hlongwane came to Kenosis in February 2000. She was the first Foster Mother to be assigned children. She was trained as a Child Caregiver at the Pietermaritzburg Childrens Home. Furthermore, she obtained practical experience with orphaned children while working with an organisation called Thandanandi at Grey's hospital.

Nomthandazo joined the Kenosis Foster Care project in September 2003 after the untimely death of her sister who had been a foster mother before. She had assisted her sister for about a year and it seemed to all the best solution, as the children had already built up a relationship with her, to leave them in her care after their foster mother had passed away.

Hlengiwe Dludla came to Kenosis in August 2002, to take on the responsibility of the third Foster Home. She herself was orphaned at the age of 17, and took on the care of her four younger siblings. This experience gave her the necessary qualification to take on the responsibility of fostering orphaned children at Kenosis. At present, all three mothers each have 6 children in their care.

How do the children come to Kenosis?

Kenosis works together closely with the local organisation 'Child Welfare'. When they have identified a 'vulnerable child' and think for the sake of the child's safety it needs to be placed in foster care, they contact Kenosis. If there is space in the foster homes, the necessary administration is done in partnership with Child Welfare, Kenosis and the responsible Foster Mother. Some children are also placed at Kenosis by the Welfare Department of the State. At present the situation is such that we have no more space for new children.

How old are the children?

Kenosis prefers to take children younger than 7 years. This reduces initial problems of integration into the family as well as schooling. However, in the case of siblings, Kenosis does make exceptions in order not to separate the siblings from one another.

How long do the children stay?

This depends from child to child. Some children stay only for a short period of time before they are re-integrated into their extended families, or adopted. However very seldom are older children adopted, most adoptive parents want a baby to join their family. Most of the children in Kenosis have stayed here for more than a year, while Social Workers work with the families to try and rehabilitate them so that the children can go back to them. However this is a very difficult and long process and in many cases it seems unlikely that the children will ever be reintegrated into their families. These children will stay in the Care of their Foster Mothers indefinately, possibly until they are 18 years of age.

Where do the children go to school?

The school-going children attend a school in Glenwood, a township/suburb about 5 km from Kenosis. Transport to and from school is supplied by Kenosis.

The Future?

In view of the ever increasing numbers of vulnerable children who are in need of a safe living environment, it would seem as if the way to go is to build one or more houses for children as required. However, smaller numbers makes it possible to focus on the individual child and offer him/her individual attention. When numbers increase too much, this is no longer possible. For this reason, Kenosis has decided to go the 'quality care' route rather than the 'quantity care' route and will not build another house in order to take on more vulnerable children. The focus is rather to assist the extended families in the farming community in which we live who are caring for orphaned and vulnerable children. This we try to do by assisting them in acquiring state grants, as well as supplying food and clothing in as much as this is possible for us to do.

BUT we are hoping to build a new home for one of the families who are presently living in a very small house and simply need more living space. Presently our plan is that once we have built a new house the old house can be used to house young teenaged girls who have just given birth. The girls can then live at Kenosis for a couple of months after having given birth, recover from the birth and think about 'what the next steps for her life are'. (See more under 'future project'.)