Orphan Program

I am finally blogging again! As you know, John was here visiting me for about two weeks. He left last night and unfortunately I felt much the same as when the Kevin's left Cape Town in October. Very sad and the tears did fall. My positive spin on the situation is that he will be back in December when the centre is closed and I won't have to work every day. The interesting thing about John's time here is how our roles were reversed. I was going to work everyday, I was driving the car and telling him what to do and what not to do! John was cleaning, grocery shopping and running errands, he did all this without a car! I think we learned a lot more about each other after this time together. It was fun!

Another reason I have been delinquent in writing is that I have been wanting to write about the Orphan Program here at the centre and the orphan situation in Guguletu and I have been procrastinating because I want to make sure I do it justice.

I just finished reading an article from the Cape Argus, the afternoon/evening paper in Cape Town, about the number of AIDS orphans rising. Currently there are 91,216 orphans, (reported by the Department of Social Development) including those who have lost parents to HIV/AIDS, in the Western Cape (the province that includes Cape Town). The number of orphans whose parents have died of HIV/AIDS is expected to increase in the next three years, while the figure for non-AIDS orphans is expected to fall.

Last count at the centre there were 70 orphans. These orphans either live with other family members, foster families or are a part of child-headed households, meaning a sibling is taking care of them, the sibling can be as young as 15 years of age. The growing number of orphans has over extended the available resources of the Orphan Program and there are now too many children and not enough spaces. The picture above is of Milly (on the right) with the Orphan Program children.

The Orphan Program was started in 2001 by Milly McQuade, a woman from a white Presbyterian church in an affluent suburb about 25 minutes from Gugs. She started the program after learning her domestic's daughter was dying of AIDS in the hospital after giving birth. The Orphan Program meets every Tuesday from 3:30 to 5:00 PM. The program breaks the children into 3 age groups, they are then taught school subjects that relate to their age and life skills. At the end of the program each child is given a food parcel to take home. The parcels are provided by church members who take home a bag each Sunday (specific items requested on the bag) and return it the following Sunday. These items and some fresh fruit and at least 2 loaves of bread (obtained via the Rotary) are packed into each child's bag. The youth group at the church also provides each teenager with a parcel of toiletries. Milly also organizes outings periodically to the beach, the zoo, to see a movie, etc. Milly's mission is for these children to experience life like any other child.

Education is the main concern of the centre and Milly's program. She believes empowering these children by education will prevent HIV infection and move them away from crime and poverty. The saving grace of South Africa!?! Due to the cost of school fees, uniforms, stationery (books, etc) and transport costs it can be very difficult for the extended families to pay for schooling. The government will cover some costs of schooling for the orphans but only if there is a birth certificate for identification. Many times the birth certificates are lost which precludes receiving government support.

There are 3 types of schools in South Africa: Public (least expensive school), Model C (more expensive than Public, better overall education and teachers) and Private (very expensive, where a child will receive the best education).

Milly's church has been able to raise money to be able to send two students to Private schools. The JL Zwane Centre has a scholarship fund for the orphans, these children attend the Model C schools. Many of you who have visited Cape Town have asked me how you could sponsor a child. I talked to the principal of the Rainbow After School Program here at the centre (this program is for children who have parents but are having problems in school and so they come to the centre to work on subjects after regular school and they also receive a small meal thanks to Open Arms) about the cost of school tuition. She broke it down to the following:

Public Schools: Average R100 to R1000 annually (divide by 7 for the dollar cost)
Model C: Average R6000 to R8000 annually
Private: R20000 plus.
Difference: Model C and Private Schools have extra teachers, smaller classes and specialized tuition for sports, dancing, music, computers, etc.

Average cost of uniforms is R500-R1000, stationery R500-R2000 these are paid annually and are based on what level in school they are. The poorer public schools do not always have text books for the children and so the information is copied and put into plastic files, therefore the high stationery costs. Transport costs can be as much as R300 a month (they do not have school buses). Children attending schools outside their township make huge sacrifices but it has been proven that they matric (graduate) with higher scores than if they remained in the township schools where the teachers are not even coming to school to teach or have been given a poor education themselves.

I just returned from a two day conference in Johannesburg on HIV/AIDS in the business and public sectors. The sad and scary statistic was that there are approximately 2 1/2 MILLION orphans in South Africa. I question how these children will ever break the cycle they are living in without the help of others. If you would like more information on the Orphan Program or the scholarship fund please let me know, I would be happy to answer any questions!

Thank you for letting me write so long about this subject that just breaks your heart!

Bye for now...