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Mandla, Nothando, Thulani, Siphiwe and Sithembiso light their kitchen fire in readiness for their evening meal. Siphiwe juggles schoolwork with caring for her younger brothers and sister, since the death of their parents from AIDS-related illnesses. Matthew Willman/OxfamAUS.
Hopes for a brighter future
South Africa’s HIV pandemic has left more than 1.5 million orphans in its wake. Editor Maureen Bathgate talks with some of these remarkable children about their lives and how our work is helping them have a brighter future.
It’s a smile that speaks volumes.
Until this moment, young Jabulani, aged 9, has been sitting quietly on a chair in a corner of the common room at Ubombo Drop-In Centre, with a shy, unsure expression on his face. But as soon as caregiver Thembelikhle Zwabe enters holding a tray of steaming hot plates of food, his mouth spreads into a wide grin, his eyes brighten and his face beams.
There are 20 or so other boys and girls in the room and at the sight of food, they all spring to life, animatedly laughing, joking and chatting with one another as they wait to dig into the delicious servings of beans, vegetables and rice.
It’s a scene that’s repeated daily at Ubombo Drop-In Centre, in the town of Jozini, in northern KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa. Every afternoon, as soon as school finishes, around 100 children visit the centre for a nutritious meal — sometimes meat and rice, sometimes beans and maize meal or even some vegetables. Some of the children walk up to 11km to reach the centre and eat what is often their only meal of the day.
For boys like Jabulani, who have lost their parents to AIDS-related illnesses, the meals have made the world of difference. It’s hard to believe that around six months ago, this healthy looking boy, was dangerously thin and sick. Living with HIV, getting good nutritious meals to support his antiretroviral treatment is vital. However, just getting any food to eat at all, can be a struggle.
But with regular and nutritious meals at Ubombo, and the right level of care, his health has improved dramatically and he is now enjoying being back at school with his friends.
“I like coming here after school. The food is really good and the people are really kind,” Jabulani says. “I also like helping out in the garden outside and playing on the swings with my friends.”
The program at Ubombo, is one of many we are supporting across Umkhanyakude district, in KwaZulu-Natal province, to ensure that orphans and other vulnerable children receive the food, care and support they need to have a bright and healthy future. As well as meals, the centre provides homework and school support, has a network of caregivers who regularly visit orphans and vulnerable families at home and has developed a vegetable garden which helps the children learn about nutrition and gain valuable gardening skills and supplies the kitchen with fresh produce.
Umkhanyakude is the poorest area in KwaZulu-Natal province, with high levels of poverty and unemployment, a lack of clean water and sanitation and the highest malaria rate in South Africa. In some areas, HIV prevalence rates are up around 41% — the highest in the country. As a result, children in the district are becoming orphaned and vulnerable at such a rapid rate, that family systems and community resources are unable to cope. The pandemic has forced many children to fend for themselves. Most suffer from Kwashiorkor — a form of malnutrition and many go to bed hungry leaving them vulnerable to serious illness and uncertain future.
In many cases, relatives who are already struggling to look after their own children, take in orphaned nieces, nephews and grandchildren, placing even greater strains on their income and food stocks.
Jabulani, aged 9, tucks into a meal of beans and rice that volunteers at Ubombo Drop-In Centre have prepared for him. Around 100 orphans visit the centre each day to receive a nutritious meal after school. Photo: Matthew Willman/OxfamAUS.
Even if parents are still alive, they are often sick as a result of AIDS and are unable to work or collect food, which directly impacts on children’s access to nutrition. Older children may leave school to care for sick parents or younger siblings and no longer access school-based meal schemes.
In Manguzi, 140km north of Jozini, near the Mozambique border, Siphiwe lives with her four younger brothers and sister — Thulani 17, Nothando 15, Mandla 14 and Sithembiso 7 — in the home they used to share with their parents.
Both parents died from AIDS-related illnesses — their mother in 2004 and father in 2001 — leaving Siphiwe to play the dual roles of parent and student. During the day she attends the local school studying science and maths with the aim of becoming a nurse. Before and after school she busies herself with household chores and looking after her younger brothers and sister.
“After school I come home and do household chores like washing clothes, collecting water, cooking, collecting firewood and making the fire. Then, if there’s time, I study. The hardest problem is getting enough food to eat,” Siphiwe says.
“When our parents died, life was very difficult. We felt alone, like nobody was going to support us. We had to change our lives. It was really tough.”
Despite the challenges she faces, Siphiwe has persisted with school. She sees it as the key to a brighter future for herself and her family.
She is repeating Year 12 this year after demands at home and a lack of school books last year made studying difficult.
“When I finish school I would like to be a nurse,” she says. “I have visited the hospital and seen the nurses at work and how they care for people who are sick. I would like to do that.”
Themba, 17, has been an orphan for more than half his life. His mother died when he was eight and he now lives alone in a temporary settlement on the outskirts of Jozini. His hut is about the size of an average Australian garden shed and inside it’s sparsely furnished with a bed made from some blocks of concrete and wood, a small side table loaded with school books, a torn poster of rap singer Eminem on the wall and a kitchen bench with one plate, one cup, one bowl, one fork and one spoon.
Life couldn’t get much tougher for this teenager. No family, no money, no food. If it wasn’t for Ubombo providing monthly food parcels, support with uniforms, books and school fees, and caregiver Prudence Mbatha visiting two to three times a week, he would be totally alone. While the food parcels are a lifeline for Themba, they rarely last the month, forcing him to ask neighbours and friends for food. “Most days, I go to school hungry,” he says.
But in spite of the hardships he has faced, Themba remains optimistic about the future. He enjoys school and is thankful for the support he has received to stay at school. “When I finish school, I want to be a civil engineer,” he says.
Providing meals and food parcels is only a small aspect of our program; we also support carers, families and relatives to look after orphaned and vulnerable children, obtain birth certificates to access government grants and welfare services and help them earn money from projects such as growing vegetables, making furniture, catering or raising chickens.
These projects not only provide much-needed income, but also help to ensure the orphans and their carers have enough nutritious food to eat — with some of the foodstuffs produced being sold, consumed or included in food parcels.
Back at Ubombo, Jabulani has now finished his meal and races outside with his friends to play on the swings and help water and weed the garden.
“I’ll race you,” he shouts excitedly to his friend Sifiso as he disappears out the door — that smile still spread warmly across his face.
*Names have been changed to protect the children’s identities.