Sponsor's update from Mamelodi
26/03/2008
Update from March 2007
Very warm greetings from everyone at SOS Mamelodi village. The year 2006 has easily gone by and at a flick of an eye we’re already in the New Year and almost at the end of the first quarter of 2007.
The school pass rate showed a drop of 12% compared to 2005 which gives us the opportunity to plan for more support to be given to our children. Children needing extra support has been a trend nationally because of the challenges in our country’s education system. The curriculum has been changed 4 times in the last six years. These changes have affected teachers who need to be retrained as well. The way we have faced these challenges is by putting more education support systems in place to help our children to cope with the changes.
Our children will be attending Saturday classes to help them with English, Mathematics and Physical Science as these subjects are compulsory in our schools. The better our children understand English, the better we hope their performance will be at school, as English is the medium of instruction in all the other subjects. Considering this, our children are showing much strength as English is not their mother tongue.
Our children had a peaceful December holiday. Those children who have biological parents, foster parents and host families were hosted during the long Christmas break. Those who remained at the Village enjoyed trips like visits to the game reserve and other areas which cater for children.
We have experienced some interesting movement in the village. This year we have fourteen children who moved to the youth houses. This brings the number of youths to thirty seven, and we needed to open two extra houses outside of the village to accommodate this high number of youths in our care. This is a challenge that we were ready for. We have twenty five youths in high schools, ten at tertiary level and two at University. In the family houses we have twelve children who are at the SOS Nursery School, two at home as they are still too young for nursery school, six at schools for special needs and one hundred and twelve at primary and high schools. This gives us a total of one hundred and thirty two children in the family houses.
The situation in the Family Strengthening Programme has become very challenging both with regards to human and financial resources, as the need in the communities is now so much greater. This programme addresses needs of children to try to help them within their communities so that removal from their biological families can be prevented.
The program aims to build the capacity of the community care givers by supporting them in developing skills and helping them access the government grants.
There are many challenges facing us in the coming year, but we are being proactive in planning to deal with these by upgrading our staff with further training. This training focuses on the Children’s Rights and also addresses the new developments and trends in child care practices.
With the continued support we get from you our sponsors we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Let me again take this opportunity to thank you for your support. On behalf of our children, staff and management we thank you for enabling us to deliver a quality, caring environment for our children. Without your support, our mandate to take action for children in need would never have been possible, for that we say thank you so much.
Yours Faithfully
J.S Skhosana
(Village Director)
Child sponsorship update from Rustenburg
Update from April 2007
Warm and joyful greetings to you in our first report from the newest SOS Village in Rustenburg, the fastest growing town in our beautiful Platinum Province, North West South Africa.
The village has admitted eight (8) boys and five (5) girls, between the ages 1 to 14 years. Our children are in school, except one toddler and a girl called Lerato who has been hospitalised many times and is unable to go to school. Two children are in High School, eight in Primary, and one in nursery school. Two of our boys did exceptionally well during athletics at school this year. One is still continuing to compete with children from other schools, who have also performed just as good and, we are very proud of him. All the children have adjusted well in the village. They have bonded well with their SOS Mothers; the children have also integrated well in the surrounding area as they have formed friendships with children from other families in this area.
On 01 December 2006, World AIDS Day, the Village Director was invited by the Department of Social Development-Rustenburg to commemorate this day at Tlhabane Stadium. This opportunity was used to establish links and networks with other government departments and other Non Government Organisations as a way of marketing the SOS Rustenburg village. The village held celebrations- including a Children’s outing, a Mothers outing and the village Christmas party. Spar Supermarket, through Shekinah Tabernacle Church, which one of our mothers is affiliated to, organised an outing for the children, where they were taken to a restaurant for lunch, refreshments and presents were given out.
Between 02 December and 06 April we have hosted the following: Regional Director and three other members from Namibia and Zimbabwe. The purpose of the visit was to see and learn more about the Solid Modest Integrated Model. On 13 December 2006 the National Community Development Co-ordinator visited the village. The purpose of the visit was to discuss issues pertaining to the Family Strengthening Programme; the village hosted the National Director, who had a meeting with all staff members. He emphasised the importance of quality care for our children and complete commitment to our work. The village hosted the National Director, Deputy Director and the National Director from Ghana. The purpose of the visit was for the National Director of Ghana to see and to learn more about the Solid Modest Integrated Model.
The village hosted the Organisational Development Co-ordinator and three other members from SOS Canada. Amongst them was Craig Forrest, FIFA Ambassador and former goalie of West Ham United football club. They were here to see and to establish a working relationship with the village. They were also here to see the Family Strengthening Programme community as they are planning to fund the Family Strengthing Programme in future. They had a wonderful time with the children in the village, and they provided the children with soccer balls and T-shirts. The village hosted the representatives of the Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (UK) as well as the Super-sport TV crew.
Amongst the visitors was Gary Mabbutt, a former Tottenham and England footballer. They played soccer with the children, did interviews with one SOS Mother and with Village Director. They also provided the children with school bags, teddy bears and soccer balls.
On 6 April Manchester University coaches of different sports i.e. Netball, Soccer, Rugby, Cricket and Basketball were coaching not only SOS children but the community youth who were overwhelmed with excitement.
The Family Strengthening Programme team has been working very hard since the beginning of the year and has achieved the following: They have identified a community called Sunrise Park, which is 12 km from the village. It is a predominantly informal settlement township. The ward councilor is very supportive of our endeavour and has welcomed the programme with open arms. They have identified 10 stakeholders from local Non Governmental Organisations, leadership structures and government departments, who have been invited to form a steering committee. The steering committee meetings are now held every Tuesday, and the attendance and the participation have been great so far. Different portfolios have been established as well. March was dedicated to conducting surveys and doing initial assessment of beneficiaries, to ensure that our programme benefits the most vulnerable children.
Spar Supermarket volunteered to donate groceries to our village, since March this year. We have also received children’s clothing and food from Assembly of God church in Rustenburg.
During the last quarter of 2006 and this quarter, a close working relationship was established with the Department of Social Development. The Village Director is also part of the Social Worker’s Forum in the Rustenburg Municipality, where social workers both from government departments and Non Government Organisations meet every month to discuss challenges facing us within this municipality. This forum has been used to market the SOS Rustenburg Facility. The village has also established another strong relationship with local churches such as Assembly of God and Shekinah Tabernacle church, which have been instrumental in helping to provide food and clothing for our children. The Assembly of God Youth Ministry wants to be involved with assisting our children by offering study materials as well as being tutors and mentors to them. The village welcomed that idea, considering the challenges that some of our children are facing in the mainstream education.
A birthday party for all the children in the village was held on 17 March 2007, just to entertain them.
The Village Director has also established a working relationship with our local schools so that the school can have a better understanding of SOS Children’s Village, and what kind of assistance is needed for the children in order to do better academically. The area ward councilor has agreed to visit the village in the near future.
Two SOS Mother Trainees (assistant mothers) have been appointed from 15 April 2007, as we are waiting to have new admissions of children very soon.
We convey our sincere appreciation for all your generosity and cooperation.
Yours faithfully
KD Mushi
Village Director
Relevant Countries: South Africa.