Part of the program involved doing community service during the week at a couple of long-term foster care centers. That might not be the best way to describe them, but essentially, these children were all removed from their homes because they were being severely abused-physically, emotionally, or sexually-or they were being neglected. The social workers assigned to their cases are always trying to work with the families in hopes of reunification, but sometimes it never happens.
For the first week of our community service, we worked with children at the S.O.S. Children's Village. For most of the time that we were in South Africa, all of the students were on their school holidays, and for the kids at S.O.S., that means that if it's safe for them to go home and visit their families for a few weeks, than they are sent home. So, there were only about 8 kids at S.O.S. while we worked there, and there were also about 8 of us.
When we visited S.O.S. every day, our jobs were essentially to spend time with children and to help the house mothers, or "mamas" with any work that we were doing. We wanted to help alleviate some of the mamas' responsibilities so that they could have a break and we wanted to help improve the kids' self-esteem, confidence, and other things like that. One note about the mamas: these women are truly incredible people. They have a job that is 24/7 caregiving for children that are for one thing, not theirs, and for another can be very challenging behaviorally as a result of their personal trauma. The mamas are incredibly selfless, and I was honored to be able to give them a small amount of time off because if anybody deserves it, it's them.
Like I said, we only spent a week at S.O.S., but during that time we did a lot of different things with the children. We played soccer, we watched movies, we had a dance party, we taught them some hand games, and then they taught us some, and we painted nails and played cards. After every visit, we left exhausted because these kids have so much spirit, energy, and enthusiasm that they always wanted to be doing something.
Overall, the experiences I had at S.O.S. and the relationships I made with the children there are very special. They opened my eyes to a lot of the problems in South Africa, problems that I had seen when we visited the New Brighton township; however, when you see the trouble that these kids face, up close and personal, the abuse, the trauma, the loss of childhood, it becomes so much more important to you. It's one of the more important things that I've taken back with me to the States, and i know that it'll be important to me for a very long time.
For the first week of our community service, we worked with children at the S.O.S. Children's Village. For most of the time that we were in South Africa, all of the students were on their school holidays, and for the kids at S.O.S., that means that if it's safe for them to go home and visit their families for a few weeks, than they are sent home. So, there were only about 8 kids at S.O.S. while we worked there, and there were also about 8 of us.
When we visited S.O.S. every day, our jobs were essentially to spend time with children and to help the house mothers, or "mamas" with any work that we were doing. We wanted to help alleviate some of the mamas' responsibilities so that they could have a break and we wanted to help improve the kids' self-esteem, confidence, and other things like that. One note about the mamas: these women are truly incredible people. They have a job that is 24/7 caregiving for children that are for one thing, not theirs, and for another can be very challenging behaviorally as a result of their personal trauma. The mamas are incredibly selfless, and I was honored to be able to give them a small amount of time off because if anybody deserves it, it's them.
Like I said, we only spent a week at S.O.S., but during that time we did a lot of different things with the children. We played soccer, we watched movies, we had a dance party, we taught them some hand games, and then they taught us some, and we painted nails and played cards. After every visit, we left exhausted because these kids have so much spirit, energy, and enthusiasm that they always wanted to be doing something.
Overall, the experiences I had at S.O.S. and the relationships I made with the children there are very special. They opened my eyes to a lot of the problems in South Africa, problems that I had seen when we visited the New Brighton township; however, when you see the trouble that these kids face, up close and personal, the abuse, the trauma, the loss of childhood, it becomes so much more important to you. It's one of the more important things that I've taken back with me to the States, and i know that it'll be important to me for a very long time.