Gardening Goodness

The weather here over the past few weeks has really been quite glorious. It is generally freezing in the morning and in the evening, but during the day the sun is shining and we can still wear tshirts. This makes for some great outdoor times during the day as we all try to absorb as much warmth as we can before the sun disappears.

Many families at Refilwe have been using the late afternoon hours to work on their winter gardens. There is a large piece of land that is dedicated to vegetable gardens and each family here at Refilwe has a plot where they grow a variety of vegetables throughout the year. Late last week I watched/helped a family of 7 here work on their garden, taking some photos of the process. We, as a volunteer house, have also been allotted our garden space, which a few weeks ago we took to with veracity, clearing and marking out beds. And since then... nothing. Our garden so far proudly boasts a well established Basil plant... and that's it. Luckily, the families here have much more motivation when it comes to reaping the harvest of their hard work later in the year!

Gardens are seen as an important part of community development and several of Refilwe's programs encourage vegetable gardens. The God Parents program capitalises on the idea of cheap vegetables and healthy eating for the children; the Health and Social Welfare side of things takes information about gardens out to the informal settlements around us, educating people on the need for healthy eating regardless of your social status. HIV/AIDS is prevalent amongst those living in poverty in South Africa and healthy eating is one easy way to help manage HIV in its early stages. ACAT also encourages gardens in terms of small business- selling your excess spinach and potatoes can be an easy way to earn some extra income at certain times of the year.

Refilwe regularly distributes vegetable seeds as a form of social development, providing individuals and families with a resource that should enable them to supplement their diet (which generally consists of carbs and meat) with vital nutrients. The key idea behind gardening is that it is a sustainable endeavour: to change the old adage slightly- give a family a bag of carrots and they'll eat for a day, teach a family to grow carrots and they'll eat for a lifetime. One doesn't even need a huge plot of land to build a garden. There are many creative ways in which a family can establish a garden; growing potatoes and onions in stacks of old tyres, using plastic bags stuffed full of dirt, using planter boxes for smaller plants. 

The only real hindrance to success is the lack of motivation to see a garden through, season after season. Some of the informal settlements around Refilwe do not have easy access to clean water, however this has proven to be just a small obstacle for those who are dedicated to keeping their garden alive. For others, the work required is just too much for them and their gardens die (or never get started.) The Home Based Care team here at Refilwe is doing good work in motivating people to move from the second category into the first.

A garden is such a simple idea. Many of us I'm sure have fanciful ideas about growing our own vegetables and saving a bit of money. It is amazing to me that what is a fun hobby for some of us can be life-changing for others. Gardens provide an easy means of healthy eating, a source of extra income and a way to gain some valuable life skills for many individuals and families struggling in our area. Just thinking about all of this makes me want to get re-started on our garden beds first thing tomorrow...

A General Update

Now that all our holidaying is pretty much over (for a couple of weeks, at least!) we have gotten back into our routine here at Refilwe. We are finding that we are becoming more and more familiar with our surroundings: while in the beginning everything was new and different, now we are very used to how things are done around here. This post is really just an update on a few things that have been going on for us.

I’m sure it made the news over there (wherever ‘there’ is) that the ANC predictably won the national election 3 weeks ago. Jacob Zuma was inaugurated as president last Saturday, and he immediately went to work rearranging some of the ministries and their functions. In my opinionated opinion, he has made some positive changes and introduced ministries (such as a minstry of youth, a ministry of disability) which communicate more focused attention social development . Since South Africa became a democracy in 1994, Human Rights and development have theoretically been at the centre of all governance here. In practice the government has met several challenges in implementing its programs successfully- the economy is certainly the biggest challenge, as the less funding the government has from taxes, the less infrastructure it is able to build. The new government has the difficult job of leading South Africa through the financial crisis while at the same time battling the conundrum that economic growth improves social development, but social development is necessary to grow the economy. Let's hope they're headed in the right direction...

I recently started a counseling program with the students at Hands of Hope. I am currently meeting with 6 students individually, as well as working with a group of 6 together. The way I envision the program running I will meet with each student for one term, which means I have a designated number of sessions with each student. I studied counseling as part of my Social Work education, but this is the first time I have done it with real people! Naturally I have felt a little nervous about it, but has I have gotten into it I have realised that mostly the students are just enjoying the fact that get someone's full attention for an hour and want to talk the whole time! 

Cliff has gone away this week. He and 8 others from Refilwe are attending a training run by ACAT for the week. On Sunday they traveled the 6 hours to the training facility and they will return on Friday evening. The week is going fairly quickly for us left behind- and of course we are making the most of 'girls nights' every evening!

The American Summer has begun, which means that college students are now on their 3 month break. Refilwe will see many teams from the US coming through for a few days to a couple of weeks at a time. These teams will do mostly short-term work: helping to build things, paint things, running programs for the kids during the holidays. It seems that this week is the beginning- we had 2 teams of 10 on site today! Things are going to be busy for the next couple of months!

Well, that's a general idea of our last couple of weeks! Catch you soon.

ACAT

Kathryn has been promising to give you all more details of what I have been doing here at Refilwe.  What she has really meant this whole time is that she is waiting for me to finish writing something that she can post.  Well, without further delay, here it is. 

The Life and Specific Skills program is a result of a partnership between Refilwe and the Africa Cooperative Action Trust (ACAT).

ACAT was established in 1979 as a Christian Development Trust committed to enabling disadvantaged rural people to improve and sustain their quality of life spiritually, physically, materially, intellectually, socially and environmentally.

Refilwe was started in 1991 and has grown to provide a wide range of medical and educational services to a severely disadvantaged community.  As you can see, Refilwe and ACAT have a lot in common.

My experiences so far in the informal settlements in the area surrounding Refilwe have revolved around visiting with business owners that are being supported by the ACAT Refilwe Skills Development program.  Businesses range from daycares to technology services to bakeries.  Some are small, some are large, some are just getting on their feet while others are making a solid profit.  Refilwe’s role is to provide ongoing training and support with a sole focus on sustainability. 

I have found myself doing everything from training childcare workers how to plan class activities to teaching the basics of Microsoft Excel.  There is a real desire to learn new skills and be formally trained. 

The other side of this program for me has involved suggesting administrative structure for the program.  While Refilwe is not a new organization in terms of years, they are new in the establishment of policies and procedures that help them run smoothly.  While all that may sound restrictive the reality is that when those things are in place time and other resources are freed up and allow people to be active in building relationships, the real work of development.         

Working with a developing organization in an underdeveloped community trying to create sustainable development is not without it’s challenges.  Just about everything possess the potential for growth and the limitation of not being able to do everything at once is frustrating on many levels.  To say that it is always fun would not be truthful, but it is always meaningful.

 

An Extraordinary Birthday

This past week we took a trip to the small landlocked country of Lesotho (pronounced ‘Lehsootoo’) with some of our colleagues here at Refilwe. We spent Monday driving through the Maloti (Malooti) Mountains, a mountain range that seems to make up most of the country, to a lodge on the side of a mountain. The next three days were spent on horseback, riding through the mountains and up to Thabana-Ntlenyana, the highest peak in Southern Africa. Late last year Cliff and I had the opportunity to hike the Inca Trail in Peru, which was a similarly incredible experience: while riding up to a peak did not bring the same personal sense of triumph walking up one did, there is certainly something to be said for the wildness one feels riding a horse up a mountain; not to mention enduring the saddle of a horse for three days!

Our first day of riding was my birthday and what an amazing birthday it was! It was certainly not spent in the usual way- I didn’t even get my 65 Facebook notifications until Saturday- but it was incredibly memorable. We spent the whole day riding through the mountains, surrounded by nothing but spectacular views and the occasional herd of sheep, goats or bulls. After 6 hours of riding, we even had a party of sorts, huddled together around a small fire to stay warm, singing, dancing and laughing. The group that we traveled with was made up of 6 of us from Refilwe and three others; it was a great combination of people, all well traveled and good-humoured.

The trip was organized by one of the women we work with here at Refilwe. Now seems like a great time to introduce you to her and two others we work with regularly here. In the above picture you can see, from left to right, Claire, Jaco (‘Yacoo’) and Annetjie (‘Anakie’). Jaco is the project manager at Refilwe. He left a secure job in the finance industry about 6 years ago to take the position here and works very hard and long hours to ensure things run smoothly. Jaco is incredibly passionate about sustainable development and has so far been a great boss to work for. Annetjie joined Refilwe in 2007 after living and working for Samaritan's Purse in Liberia. Annetjie is a nurse, however recently took on an administrative role at Refilwe, focusing on fundraising and various other projects. She, like Jaco, lives in a house on the property and is a God Parent to two teenaged girls. Claire is the most recent addition to the Refilwe staff, starting her position just a few weeks before we arrived. Claire oversees the health and social welfare projects that Refilwe runs; she is Amanda's boss. Being such a close-knit community, we are enjoying not only working with each of these people, but are also forming great friendships with them too.

After three days of horses, camping food, good conversations, great laughs and cramped sleeping conditions (we all crowded into a Basutu hut like the one above. It was a very authentic experience, to say the least!) we set off on a long journey back through the mountains. We drove back to South Africa via a different route, wanting to see some different scenery as well as visit the Khatse Dam along the way. We had to stop frequently for photo opportunities! The trip took a bit longer than expected and we almost ran out of petrol (not so much our fault as the fault of the petrol stations that were out of petrol along the way)- but luckily we made it with about 10k's to spare to a place that boasted a tank with actual petrol in it.

Now we're back into the swing of a full week of work back at Refilwe. There have been a huge amount of public holidays over the past month (at least one if not 2 holidays every week!- and we thought Australia had a lot!) so this is the first full week for a lot of us, not just those of us who are constantly going away on adventures. While we loved the experience we had in Lesotho, we are very glad to be back and re-immersed in life here at Refilwe. 

Parenting Problems

Last Sunday Amanda and I invited some of the Mamas who live here to our house for Afternoon Tea. While we do this regularly with the Refilwe mothers, this particular time we were joined by sisters Mama Miriam and Mama Zola who were visiting Refilwe from Cape Town for the weekend. In the above photo, our visitors were the two women on the right. As we sat and chatted, Mama Miriam shared with us some of her experiences as a foster mother of many children. Her stories reminded me of a network meeting myself and a couple of others here went to a few weeks ago to meet with other organizations and agencies that are working with children throughout South Africa. There we heard many stories of carers who are just overwhelmed with either the number of children they care for, the issues and problems the children have and/or the lack of support they receive in order to properly care for their children.

Many children in South Africa are born into a myriad of social problems. HIV/AIDS, alcohol abuse, poverty, rape, violence and crime are prevalent in many areas of South Africa. These issues often directly impact on children: their parents die of AIDS, the child contracts HIV themself, they experience family violence (maybe or maybe not due to alcohol), their bodies show signs of malnutrition and lack of healthcare, one in three of them are raped. The facts go on and on...

With so many orphaned, vulnerable and abused children, there is a great need for their proper care and protection. Unfortunately the system can be quite overwhelmed with these children; with sketchy infrastructure, limited numbers of social workers and quality foster carers, inadequate training and support for carers many children fall through the cracks or receive only basic care. Mama Miriam herself is caring for 27 children in a small house; an enormous task that involves many daily challenges and difficulties just to make sure everyone is fed, clothed and healthy. Parent-child relationships are not able to be maintained on an individual basis because the extra time and energy required just doesn’t exist. There is such an incredible need for children to be holistically taken care of here- a need that Refilwe has been involved with meeting for the past 12 years.

The question arises, then, of what sort of action should be taken to meet the needs. Is it more important to meet the physical needs of many at the expense of true parental relationships, or is there more value in focusing on the lives of a few? Refilwe has chosen to implement an innovative program called God Parents that models a foster care program by creating a family focused environment while maintaining a sense of African culture within a village sort of mentality.

The God Parents program incorporates the idea that children need a stable family that meets not only their physical and material needs, but also their emotional and spiritual needs. While the housing at Refilwe could technically house 140 children in group home environments, there are currently only 35 foster children living in nine family groups. These nine foster families also have a total of 10 biological children living with them as well, making a total of 45 children living on the property. The kids are aged from 9 months to 19 years old; as I have previously mentioned, 16 of them attend the Hands of Hope School here. The rest attend primary school, go to a daycare or stay at home with their mamas.

The program has operated in its current form for about 3 years and has seen some very positive growth and change in the lives of the children here. New children arrive from time to time, but none are expected to leave just because they ‘age out’ of the foster care system. There are naturally many issues that are faced on a daily basis when it comes to dealing with the behaviours of abused children and establishing parent-child relationships- Refilwe is still working on creating a built-in support system for the God Parents to ensure the sustainability of the family groups. Economically, the program also faces issues. While most of the children are in Foster Care and should be eligible for government grants to support their care, many of the children do not have birth certificates (due to various reasons on the part of their biological parents) which means they are not yet ‘official’ in the eyes of the government. Bureaucracy means it could be years before a birth certificate is issued, after which time the child may well be over 18 and no longer eligible for any form of financial support. 

The God Parents program is central to much of Refilwe's work and ministry. We have daily opportunities to interact with the children, as well as encourage and support the foster parents. This has been one of the most enjoyable aspects of our time here so far; we expect it to continue as we try to be intentional about growing relationships and supporting those who have dedicated their lives to parenting within a system filled with problems.