The Current Conditions in South Africa

Please view the following link to the Canadian International Development Agency's website. It provides insightful information on the South African issues that brought me back to this country.



Below are some interesting statistics I pulled from a report entitled To Live a Decent Life: Bridging the Gaps (A study of SACBC programmes in support of Orphans and Vulnerable Children in South Africa and Swaziland).


1. In 2003 there were an estimated
1,1 million AIDS orphans in South Africa and
65,000 in Swaziland (2004 Update South Africa;
2004 Update Swaziland UNAIDS/UNICEF/WHO).
It is presently estimated that approximately 23%
of Swazi and 16% of South African children will
be orphaned by 2010 (Africa’s Orphan Generations
2004 UNICEF). Within the decade as many as 30%
of 15-17 year olds will be orphaned.

2. In South Africa in the age group
15-24, prevalence rates among men were just
under 5% compared to over 15% for women in
2003 (UNAIDS 2004). Women also carry the lion’s
share of coping with epidemics’ consequences.
71% of households with orphans in South Africa
and 50% of those in Swaziland are female headed
(Africa’s Orphan Generation UNICEF 2004).

3. It is estimated that Gross Domestic Product
declines by 1% per annum where 15% of the
adult population is HIV positive (UNFPA State of
World Population 2004 Report). Cumulatively the
worst case scenario prepared for the World Bank
predicts that in three generations there could
be complete economic collapse (SA Reserve Bank
October 2003 "Labour Markets and Social Frontiers").

4. Since caregivers and volunteers also live
and work in extremely stressful and distressing
environments several programmes
try to provide them with structured emotional
and spiritual support. Usually termed
caring for the carers, it is an essential part
of ensuring that people stay with the
programmes and are able to respond to
the needs and deliver the services expected
of them.

5. Approximately 40% of children under
five show signs of chronic malnutrition and 60% of
the total population are food poor.

Monitoring and Evaluation

Monitoring and Evaluating (M&E) is a branch of the International Development (ID) field. All donors require that projects are reviewed for effectiveness. Therefore, ID projects must collect statistics that can be analyzed and used for project evaluation.

NMCF has recently submitted a report to USAID. With Farah, the M&E specialist, I traveled to projects in the provinces of Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and KwaZulu Natal, gathering statistics for the USAID report. As many of the projects are very rural and unable to access computers and printers, the statistics were gathered via basic, one-page charts. The volunteer care-worker had to simply write in her (or his) information, the location of the project and then list every OVC (orphan and vulnerable children) that they attended to throughout the year. In the columns next to the OVC names, there were dozens of options to choose from, ranging from Grant Assistance, to School Work Assistance. The care-worker had to simply check off any activity that she performed with the OVC during the year. This gives us a simple picture of the services provided to the OVC by the care-worker.

(The care-workers in most projects did maintain a book in which they would make notes as they visited the OVC. They were therefore able to reference their books in order to fill out the form).

The New South African Struggle

(An excerpt from my journal. Additional comments in [brackets].)

I was in Jane Furse today [which is in Limpopo province North of Johannesburg, towards the Zimbabwe border. It appears to have been a prior homeland, an area that the apartheid government deemed to be a separate country for blacks. There is still very little development in the area -- just one shanty town after another for a solid hour of driving. Because of the draught that is affecting the area (as far north as Malawi), Jane Furse has not had water for months. Despite this, it is one of my favourite places in South Africa.].

Farah and I were visiting SEP (Sekhukhune Educare Project) to gather statistics for the NMCF report to USAID. We divided the volunteer care-workers into small groups to update the statistic forms.

The women I was working with told me of one girl they regularly visit. Her name is Nthabiseng [henceforth Ntha]. Both Ntha and her mother Anne are mentally disabled. The care-workers I spoke with had reported on their statistics form that they had assisted Ntha to receive a Disability Grant. [I knew from prior experience that the care-workers tend to do far more for the Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) than they report. Somewhere along the line, they came to believe that NMCF and Western donours are only interested in key economic activity. This is completely untrue. Even something as seemingly insignificant as a home visit creates positive impacts on the OVC's life by showing the child that someone cares about them. Thus, I knew that I had to push the women to give me more information so I could accurately portray their activities.].

After asking some key questions, I came to understand that the care-workers had visited Ntha many times. I ascertained that they had organized for Ntha to attend a school for disabled children. They eventually told me that they had also brought Ntha to the clinic for treatment.

That was all they were willing to tell me, so I moved on to the other children they were working with.

Before finishing our session, I returned to Ntha. When I pushed the women around the issue of the clinic treatment, they eventually told me that Nthabiseng has been repeatedly raped by her father.

These two women looked at me with such despair. In broken English, and sometimes through an interpreter, they explained that Ntha didn't know that was was being done to her was wrong. They said that Ntha's mother was unable to help her daughter because of her own disability. They said they didn't know what to do to help her.

This is a part of the new South African Struggle.

With the veil of apartheid removed, South Africa's wounds have been revealed: rape, child rape, poverty, unemployment, HIV/AIDS, child-headed households.

While this vileness of life is shocking in its presentation, I am humbled by the depth of the human spirit to deal with these issues. These care-workers were raised during apartheid. They received a Bantu education, if any at all. They were restricted in their movement. Freedom only reached them in 1994. Yet, here they are, volunteering their time and love to develop their nation and protect their nation's children. With few possessions themselves, they care for the OVCs in their area for no compensation. Every day they help those who have suffered devastating human rights abuses.

In South Africa, this human spirit is called Ubuntu: a person can only be a person through the help of others ["umntu ngumntu ngabanye abantu" in Xhosa]. Watching the spirit of Ubuntu manifest itself in Jane Furse is awe-inspiring.