Preschools & MAD about Art

I didn’t really realise before how much of a difference there is between the different preschools in the township. I’ve been mostly working at Wonderland which has 32 kids in the older class and is fairly well equipped. Inside the kids have tables and chairs, several books, loads of posters on the walls, crayons and paper to draw on and a few puzzles to play with. Outside there is a small playground with swings  and an area for them to run around.

But some of the other volunteers went to Ikamva Lethu preschool today and they told us that they had no resources at all. No tables and chairs, all the kids just sat on the floor. No pens, crayons or paper to draw with. No pictures on the walls. The toilets are blocked and parts of the building are in need of repair. This particular school just doesn’t have any funding and is run by a couple of women who want to provide this service to their community because they see the need for it. Last year the school was about to be shut down for environmental health reasons before Edge of Africa stepped in. A school in Germany did some fundraising to help to pay for some of the refurbishment works and Edge of Africa volunteers helped to do the work. The volunteers are now working with the teachers at the school to fix the remaining structural problems and get their accreditation. It’s hard work teaching with absolutely no resources. The teacher spends most of the day just talking to the children, explaining things to them and getting them to repeat things she has said. They don’t even have a very big outdoor area so a simple game of catch is a problem because the 43 kids at this school couldn’t even stand in a big enough circle to throw the ball to each other.

Yesterday afternoon was spent at MAD about Art running an after school group for teenage girls. The purpose of the group is to allow the girls to talk about things that they are going through during those difficult teenage years, promote discussions and allow them to ask questions about anything in a non-judgemental environment. Most of the girls were between 12 and 14 but were asking questions about subjects that you wouldn’t expect them to have to deal with at their age. Big life questions about sex, relationships, contraception, drugs & alcohol abuse, domestic violence. Most of them say they have a boyfriend and the group leader thinks that most of them are already sexually active but from the sort of questions they were asking us, it seems as though most of them don’t really understand what they are doing or what is happening to their body. One girl asked about her periods – what they are, why she gets them – it must be a frightening thing to start bleeding one day and not be prepared for that or understand why. I don’t think these questions are encouraged at home and these sorts of subjects aren’t discussed openly so they have clearly been getting the wrong idea about stuff.

I think most of them found the session useful once they got over their initial embarrassment about asking questions and discussing things together. Myself and the other volunteers tried to give them the facts whilst making sure that they understood that they are in control of their own bodies and that they have a choice when it comes to what they do and don’t do with their boyfriends. It’s such a difficult conversation to have with any teenager but in a culture where men often treat women with disrespect and that is ‘normal’ for them, it’s even harder.

Hand in Hand continued...

Yesterday one of the ladies from the Hand in Hand Group said that she had seen Agnes and found out where she was staying, so I went with the project coordinator to find her and speak to her. We wanted to check that she was OK and find out from her what she wanted to happen next.

It turns out that she has now gone back to live with her auntie who brought her up after her parents died so she at least has a place to stay and food to eat. Agnes said she’s going to sign up for child support on Monday and her aunt has agreed to look after the baby so that Agnes can go back to school, finish her studies and then look for a job. So a happy ending to the story J

The Hand in Hand Group

Yesterday was my second meeting with the Hand in Hand group which is a support group for single mothers, pregnant ladies and those who want to have a baby. The idea of the group is to provide support to vulnerable women who might otherwise struggle to look after themselves or their babies. It was the ladies from this group that came to the house to cook us a typical township meal a couple of weeks ago.

Last time the meeting took place in the home of one of the ladies, Agnes, who is 19, has a 9 month old baby and lives with her boyfriend. Yesterday morning we called at her house in the morning as we were in the area anyway for a different project but she wasn’t there. Later, at the Hand in Hand group, Agnes didn’t turn up and we found out why from one of the other women. Apparently her boyfriend had kicked her out of the house the day after she came to the volunteer house to cook for us because when she returned home that night she said she was too tired to cook him dinner. So now she has gone back to live with her grandfather which isn’t much better because the rest of her family are resentful of her and angry that she doesn’t work and that the money now has to stretch that bit further.

Agnes’ story isn’t uncommon. When she became pregnant, her school excluded her so she didn’t graduate. Because she didn’t graduate, she will struggle to find a job of any kind, even an unskilled one, as most employers want to see a graduation certificate. Because she couldn’t work, she relied on her boyfriend’s income to support herself and her child – the ladies at the Hand in Hand group told me that he has kicked her out 4 or 5 times before and she always ends up going back to him because she needs the money and a place to live. If she leaves him, she can register for child support but that would only give her 280 ZAR per month – about £30. Out of that money she would need to rent a room somewhere which might cost 150 ZAR per month, so that doesn’t leave much for food and clothing. Food is cheaper over here, but not that cheap! And if she wants to go back to school Agnes would need to find someone to look after her son while she’s there and find the money to pay her own school fees. Unless she finds a job, Agnes will not be able to afford to pay the fees to send her son to school when he is older.

The problems she faces, the lack of money, lack of support from her family, lack of any way for her to generate an income for herself, all drive her back to her ‘boyfriend’ even though their relationship is unhappy and unstable because it’s the only way she can provide for her son. It saddens me to know that men here are able to treat women with such disrespect and that women sometimes just accept that as a way of life because it’s all they’ve ever known or because they feel they have no other options. I’m hoping that the Hand in Hand group will be able to somehow give Agnes the support she needs to go back to school and complete her studies so that she at least has a chance of finding a job and making a new life for herself and her son. I want to help her but I really don’t know how.

TB Screening

Apologies for the lack of posts but our internet has been down for over a week now and has just been fixed today. Apparently our phone lines were struck by lightning during a storm last week so our modem and internet lines were fried.

Last week I spent Wednesday to Friday at Addo Elephant Park anyway where there were at least 400 elephants in the area as well as lions, leopards, buffalo, rhinos, kudu, red heart beast, eland, wart hogs, a variety of birds, lizards and snakes and countless other wildlife. It was an exciting few days that included being chased by elephants and a pretty severe thunderstorm, but a good time was had by all and a I got some amazing photos!

After a relaxing weekend, Monday morning was spent doing TB screening in the township. This involved going door to door and asking people if they could complete a short health questionnaire to find out if they had any of the symptoms of tuberculosis, which include:

·         A cough that never goes away

·         Coughing up mucus and blood

·         Chest pains

·         Shortness of breath

·         Loss of appetite

·         Difficulty sleeping

People who displayed 3 of more symptoms were referred to the clinic for a blood test to confirm whether or not they have TB and begin treatment if the test comes back positive. We only made one referral yesterday but TB is a growing problem in the township and it is particularly dangerous for those who are HIV positive – which is 1 in 4 people in South Africa at the moment.

Surprisingly, even though treatment for TB at the clinic is free, many people are reluctant to go because they are embarrassed - a lot of people believe that TB is a disease that only affects people who are HIV positive, which is not the case at all. Our job is to raise awareness of the symptoms and treatment options and encourage people to get tested at the clinic if they think they might be ill. And also try to get people to understand that anyone can get TB at any time in their lives.

Whilst filling in the questionnaire with one young man in the township, I asked him if he suffered from chest pains. He told me yes, he does, and proceeded to open his shirt to reveal a 4 inch long angry, red, scar from a stab wound which he got whilst walking in the township at night! He was only 18 years old.