Orphans get special Mandela Day attention

Mbali and Nomzamo are four years old and live in an orphanage called Nehemiah Village of Love. Nomzamo is without parents and Mbali’s parents are unable to support her as they are poor and unemployed.

On Mandela Day they received more than 67 minutes of special attention from various volunteers of organisations such as Seriti Institute, Soul City Institute and Coca-cola South Africa.

The girls are just two of 20 kids supported by the centre, the youngest is eight months old and eldest being 17. Eight of the children share five beds with four of the centre’s caretakers, while twelve other kids are forced to live at a nearby crèche due to lack of beds and blankets.

Nomzamo’s mother passed away when she was merely six months old, due to illness, said caretaker at the centre Phumzile Chalengula, and no one knows who her father is.  

Two of the children are in high school and are victims of abuse from their fellow scholars because of their HIV status, said the centre manager Andile Zabeko.

Zabeko started the centre in 1996, with the aid of the Methodist Church in Ivory Park. They converted an abandoned building that belonged to the church into a home that caters for children who are without parents, children whose parents can longer take care of them, and children in child-headed households.

For more than three years the children have been forced to wash with cold water, their electricity shut because of an unpaid R18, 000 bill.

The centre was battling for food for the children, transport to and from school and a shortage of beds, making the centre unable to accommodate anymore orphans.

The children are not without emotional strain, however at least once a month social workers come by the centre to play with them, bringing them toys and offering counselling.

“They can’t explain what they are going through but you can tell they aren’t happy. It’s so difficult to make them really smile. They grow up having no parent, being sick at the age of twelve, being told at your school that you are HIV positive and all that is quite a lot for them (to handle),” said Zabeko.

“The social workers assist by bringing games, go shopping (with the children) and even take them to MacDonald’s (restaurant) and all these food places just to make sure that they feel their childhood again.”

The squad of more than 40 volunteers painted the shelter, cooked for the children, ploughed the dusty garden and polished the place to make it more hospitable. In the spirit of Madiba’s 93 birthday donations poured in with stoves, clothes, food and even the electricity bill was settled.

President of Coca-Cola South Africa William Egbe said that it is important for organisations to find a sustainable way of assisting the under privileged.

“It’s tough, we feel for the children who are sick and have to travel all day to get their drugs.”

The centre had opened a “Spaza” Shop before in an attempt to generate sustainable income, Egbe said, however thugs from around the neighbourhood proved to be the initiative’s undoing and burgled various items, including a fridge.

Liziwe Nabe of the Seriti Institute said that her organisation had adopted a few orphanages around Ivory Park and are committed to sustaining them by keeping them clean and playing a supervisory role to the centres.

“We restore the orphaned children’s dignity basically. We cook, clean and collect medication for them.”

“uNomzamo uyatefa (cry-baby)” said Mbali shyly, who is fond of playing with dolls. Nomzamo enjoys playing on the swings.

 The children enjoyed the day with an endless supply of cold-drinks, food and camaraderie of volunteers trying to make a small but meaningful difference. For at least 67 minutes the children forgot about their plight and laughed cheerfully as adults pushed them onto the swings.