Help Educate 22 Children in Zandspruit, S.Africa

Just when we thought that we were past the peak of the Covid pandemic, the 2^nd wave hit us in December, and our challenges of the early part of 2020 have returned including the challenge of online education. Fortunately our school summer holidays started mid-December and ran through to end-January, so the impact will only be from February onwards.

During the holidays it is always our goal to try and re-unite some of our children with their extended family members so that when they eventually leave us they still have a support base. Of course this is not always possible for a variety of reasons e.g. they were abandoned and the family can’t be found, or the home environment of the family member is not considered safe. But I am pleased to say we were able to re-unite a high percentage of our children this year, even if it was only for a couple of weeks, the only sad part is that it re-enforces the feeling of abandonment for those left at Thandanani knowing they don’t have family outside of Thandanani.

As in any family it’s always sad when a family member leaves, and so it was when our Social Worker (Zandile) resigned in October. Zandile had been with us since 2005 and had become an integral part of the family and a confidant of the children. But there was also a silver lining because one of our house moms (Claudia) had been studying for a Social Work degree by correspondence, and had just qualified earlier in 2020, so it was an ideal opportunity to promote her into the role of the new Social Worker. Of course this caused a chain reaction and left us short of a house mom, but I am pleased to report that we found a lovely new lady (Sibongile) who has come on board and has fitted in from Day1.

So as we move into 2021 with it’s ongoing Covid challenges we do so ever thankful for you, our supporters, that have supported us through some difficult times, and for this we are eternally grateful.

Best Wishes

Paul

Links:

• Thandanani House of Refuge

Education has presented a challenge for the children of Thandanani in 2020.

Estimates in South Africa show that up to end September children have lost between 30 and 59 school days (depending on their grade) during the pandemic, and although schools are now back they will probably lose more between now and the end of the year due to social distancing measures e.g. half the class only attending school every alternate day.

So with the return of school attendance it’s definitely been a whole new experience for our Thandanani children, not only having to convince them to wear masks all day at school, but then having to continue with online lessons on the alternate days at home.

And it’s also been a learning curve for our house parents who have to keep track of who is at school on which day given that it varies by grade, and the fact that our children attend 7 different schools, not to mention trying to figure out which online class which child should log into on which day. And we’ve had to change our mode of transport because children that would normally have gone to school in a mini-taxi (16-seater microbus) no longer do so because of the risk of the virus in that environment, and in place of that we have decided to take them to school and back ourselves, with some schools being up to 20 kms away and the resultant cost of fuel and wear-and-tear on our vehicles.

But notwithstanding the challenges we remain upbeat because not only is education taking place, but we’re surviving the pandemic, and our children have remained virus free for which we are extremely grateful.

And of course we owe a debt of gratitude to you our supporters, and thank you once again for every donation whether big or small that has been helping us to survive the Covid-19 challenge.

Best wishes

Paul

Links:

• Thandanani House of Refuge