Baphumelele Children’s Home

As ever, the need for safe housing for vulnerable and orphaned children continues to grow. The figures quoted by government and NGO sources get bigger and bigger – nobody really knows what the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic will have in the future but what we can see here at Baphumelele is an ever-growing number of children and young adults who need looking after. We are now looking after around 150 children, occasionally reaching the 160 mark with children who are lost and then reunited with their families within a short period of time.

Working with  major funders, we are in the process of building two new cluster houses. As you may be aware, these are small bungalow-style homes with beds for 8 children and 2 caregivers (one for day, one for night). The impact of this type of home on the children is enormous – moving from the big houses into these small homes, we have seen children starting to speak properly for the first time, to grow into individuals and to develop a deeper security and confidence within themselves. 

The new homes are being built as a terrace (ie joining each other) as land space is now in short supply. They are to be found next door to Canada House (Cluster 5) on the land which was being used as football pitch. We are aiming for a grand opening in December 2008, when 16 children will be moved down from Clemens and the baby house. Everybody is very excited not least certain kids who have decided to claim a spot already!

Meanwhile we are busy fundraising to build a further 4 units in the space which is currently occupied by Rosie’s Kitchen (the soup kitchen). Architectural plans have already been drawn up which show a double storey building with a central stair case leading off to a unit on each side. A courtyard space outside will be shared by this building and Cluster 6/7, giving the children somewhere safe to play and create a garden.

Cluster 6 and 7 with our team of trusty builders    Half term holidays     

Half Term Holidays (by the volunteers)

During the half term holidays in October we created a holiday program for all the children of Baphumelele to participate in, with activities such as singing, playing, sports, and crafting. The program started with a little warm up everyday. Everybody played the game "Funky Chicken") and sang "Jenny Mama" – a song which was learned at the volunteers’ preparation seminar in Germany. The subsequent program was different every day.

One day we were dancing with the kids in the Clemens kitchen. At the beginning they didn’t really dare to dance but by the end everybody joined in. We were very impressed at how talented our kids are. Some of them were even showing special moves and seemed to be so sure about it - as if the way they danced was normal and that all of us could. Respect to everybody!

Another topic of our program was painting and crafting. We divided the kids up in to different groups that were lead by two different volunteers. The Aviva volunteers also helped us out on the day. One group made little boxes out of paper and creating different shapes with paper by cutting different patterns in it. By the end, the kids were sitting and crafting everywhere: on the floor, on the couch, even on the table. After they left the whole Cluster was "decorated“ with little pieces of paper, but of course some of the children helped us to tidy up!

The second group painted pictures about their dreams while the remaining group did crafting with sand and sea shells which we collected for the kids at the beach the day before. Many really nice pictures were created on that day!

The next day, the older ones went with some of us to the stadium and participated in a sports day there. Most played soccer which was a lot of fun but exhausting for everybody.  The others joined an alternative program which included jumping ropes, a running contest, and singing songs like "head, shoulders, knees and toes". We took the younger ones to Cluster 3 to bake some muffins which was a lot of fun and they were so delicious!

For the who? For the kids! (by the volunteers)

It was this catch phrase which formed part of the concert we attended in October in Rochesters Simphiwe (Administrator of Baphumelele Respite Centre and up and coming rapper!) and friends gave a concert on behalf of the children of Baphumelele who attend the McGregor Waldorf School. Felipe, Olwethu and Lwando are planning to go to a camp with the school, so they needed to raise money….. “for the who? For the kids!” At the concert, these three boys were able to show everyone what they could do, either rapping or dancing. With the support of Simphiwe and an audience full of family and friends, they were able to raise some funding towards their camping trip.

 Simphiwe often goes out into the community and raps his messages to the public. The kids really listen to what he has to say. At the concert, all of children stand in front of the stage and wish they could rap like he can. Driven by this thought, they start rapping or dancing and practice until they have the chance to show their talent. So this is one of the evenings when they get to show what they can do. Their hearts are beating, because all of the people are looking at them, but they muster up their courage and then go in the middle of the circle or on the stage and start. It’s impressive for us to see, even through they are so young, how they move and how they get completely into their music. Even the youth from the township were participating and also some other volunteers and other people who knew the boys. It was a great event to help raise funds and awareness for Baphumelele’s teenagers.

Graduation Day

For four of our teenagers, November was a very big month – graduation from primary school…finally! A two day extravaganza was planned by the school with the ceremony taking place on the first day, and a fun day of eating and celebrating at Spier winefarm on the second day. A well-timed donation of some evening wear ensured that Carmen, Yonela, Ncebakazi and Yamkela looked at their very best. Members of the Baphumelele staff and volunteers watched proudly as they received their graduation certificates and celebrated their coming of age with all of the other students and families.

Carmen, Ncebakazi, Yonela and Yamkela

Birthdays in December

Sinoyolo 2 December 3 years; Indiphile 19 December 9 years; Oyena 21 December 4 years; Dada 23 December 8 years; Nana 25 December 5 years; Aboot 26 December 12 years; Ayanda 28 December 14 years; Sindiswa 29 December 10 years

Children who left Baphumelele

Our new social worker Nokulunga has been focusing on the reunification programme, aiming to bring together children in care with appropriate members of their family. As part of this, Hlumile was reunited with his family, as were Siphosihle, Silondokuhle, Asiphe, Akila and Lindokuhle.

Alusha was reunited with her grandmother who lives in Maputo,Mozambique. She was very happy to head off, with an excellent school report in her pocket. We took lots of farewell photos and hope to pay a visit next time any of us get toMozambique!

 Granny, Alusha, Katie and Auntie!

Thina also went home to stay with her grandmother. She has been at Baphumelele since she was a tiny baby so it was great to see her finally with a proper family.

And finally some extra photos of the kids!

Siyavuya, Imange, Nokuthula, Boniswa and Odwa                     Nana, Mesuli, Sinazo and Zolela

Baphumelele Educare Centre and Grade R 

If you open the door of Grade R at about 8:45 in the morning you can hear all the kids singing: “Molweni abantwana, molweni abantwana, ngobani igama lakho?” (Good morning children, what is your name?) They are all standing in a circle and singing together. One of them starts answering by telling the others his or her name and it goes on until everybody has introduced him/herself. The song starts at the beginning of each new school day.    

Opened in February 2007, the Baphumelele Grade R has been developing a lot. Together with Leo and Flo, two of the volunteers at that time, Monica and Lucia started teaching the little students in that year. Before this, they were both working in the Educare Centre downstairs (known as the crèche).  Monica and Lucia had never been teachers before but with the help of some books and evening classes on “Leadership from Early Childhood”, they’ve designed their own teaching schedule. They also were given training in Waldorf education and received a diploma for it.

Jessica, Asamahle and Thembani                            Mama and class

Like most of the parts in Baphumelele, the Educare and Grade R is dependant on donations. All the materials, books, magazines and stationary were donated. At the moment there are many good and useful things in the Grade R but “…it would be so nice to have more space for all these things” (Monica). There are only the two classrooms and one other room for preparation in Grade R right now. Monica and Lucia try to make the pre-school life as interesting as possible for the little learners. Every week there is a different topic that the kids are working on, e.g. numbers, shopping, farming, etc. In each class there are 4 groups and every day one of the four groups is doing a craft, another group is painting, and the other two groups are drawing or doing a puzzle. Fridays they collect all their work of the week and put it in their folders. Then they also get homework and a book for the weekend.

Besides the normal schedule there are also certain holidays and events celebrated, e.g. Heritage day, African day, World Aids day, Christmas… “The kids have the right to know what is going on these days and why people are celebrating certain things,” Monica says. Volunteers have been working in Grade R since it first started. “It’s good to have these young people because they help us a lot and they bring a lot of new and nice ideas”, says Monica. “ We like that we can be creative at our work and it is good to see that our ideas and suggestions are helping them. For the next school year we are planning to start music and sport days as well. We have many ideas and hope that we can implement most of them during our year here in Baphumelele.”

Felicia                                               Amelie                                               Monica

There is still a lot that can be done in Grade R, but now: “It’s time to say goodbye goodbye (3x), thank you lovely friend!” This song will accompany you when you leave Grade R and will stick in your head for the rest of the day!