Children should enjoy carefree lives where their only concern should be whether their next sandwich should be peanut butter, jam or both. But sadly in many areas of this country, it’s not the case.
Certainly not for seven Lusikisiki children left poverty-stricken when their father died in 2008 and who were then abandoned the following year by a mother who moved to Durban and continued to cash their child support grants.
Their plight was exposed in 2011 when the Daily Dispatch visited the area and reported on how the Gada* children – Monwabisi, 19, Vuyokazi, 16, Asanda*, 12, Khanya*, 9, Akhona*, 8, Sethu*, 7, and Inga*, 4, were living in squalor in a dilapidated mud structure.
Their story touched the hearts of many Dispatch readers, resulting in people donating school uniforms, a bed and clothing. Eskom and the Department of Human Settlements also stepped in by providing electricity and a temporary structure.
A return visit to the area last week found bittersweet improvements to their living conditions, at least for the five youngest, who have been re-homed.
Sadly for older siblings Monwabisi and Vuyokazi, help came a little late in their lives and they are now on their own, forging a life for themselves.
Monwabisi, now 24, after an absence of some years, returned to the family home late last year, with a girlfriend and young child in tow.
The homestead comprises two small structures and Vuyokazi, now 21, lives alone in the other house with no job and very few employment options.
During the visit to their home last week, we learnt that Monwabisi left his siblings in 2012 and headed towards KwaZulu-Natal in search of greener pastures, and his mother.
Vuyokazi said: “He took the social grant money with him and I was left alone with the kids, with nothing to support us. He then started giving me a small portion of the money but never the full amount.
“It was a struggle. We could not afford to buy things for everyone. I gave up.”
Vuyokazi says by last year the struggle got too much and, leaving 15-year-old Asanda in charge, she went to Gauteng to try and find a job. Having dropped out of school after failing Grade 11, her attempts at finding employment have been unsuccessful so far.
“I was determined to make something of myself but it seemed that the odds were stacked against me at every turn. If my mother was a responsible person I would have finished school because she would have been here playing her role of mother,” she said, through her tears.
The young woman lasted six months in Johannesburg and says guilt, as well as the urging of her siblings, forced her to return late last year.
Soon after her return however, Asanda, Khanya, now 12, Akhona, 11, Sethu, 10, and Inga, 7, were moved to a children’s home.
“I was not consulted about this move.
“In fact, I was in town when they were taken away.
“In terms of their education, living at the home is good for them because they are closer to school and they have guaranteed meals – something I cannot give them,” she said.
“Living here they sometimes struggled to get to school when it rained because the river they crossed overflows.
“But now I’m left with nothing, because I too survived on their social grants,” she said.
The church group that runs the children’s home has organised to collect the social grant money on the younger children’s behalf.
Monwabisi added: “A part of me is sad they have moved out but I am hopeful it will give them the chance of a better future.”
While in KwaZulu-Natal he said he managed to track down his mother but claimed she refused to come back to the Eastern Cape.
“I tried to talk to her, to beg her to come home but she said no.
“It caused a fight between us.
“In December I heard she was around village for a funeral but she never bothered to come see how we were doing,” he said, adding that she has two other children living with her and her new partner in KwaZulu-Natal.
At the time of going to print, the children’s mother had not responded to calls and messages left by the Dispatch on her phone.
The five younger siblings live in the Apostolic Faith Mission Cluster Foster Home in their village.
Their school principal, Mzobanzi Sobantwana, and school teachers were instrumental in getting them placed at this home.
Younger sister Asanda, 16, is now the mother of a one-month-old baby girl named Buhle, who lives with them.
She said she was “happy living at the foster home”.
Akhona agreed saying: “there is always a meal ready for us when we come home from school”.
Youngest sibling Inga, who was a year old when his mother left, said he did not remember what she looked like. “But I think I would like to meet her one day.”
The foster home has six houses in a secure yard and each house has a den mother looking after six children.
Nobongile Dlume said it was a pleasure taking care of the Gada children.
“I have fallen in love with them. They are such sweet children, not troublesome at all. I have picked up that all they want from me is attention, just to have someone to tell how their school day has been,” she said.
With all the hardships endured by the Gada children, the hope is that they get to finish their schooling so that the vicious cycle of impoverished children will not be repeated in baby Buhle’s generation. — siyab@ dispatchlive.co.za/
*The names of the minors have been changed to protect their identities
Church rescues abandoned kids
Certainly not for seven Lusikisiki children left poverty-stricken when their father died in 2008 and who were then abandoned the following year by a mother who moved to Durban and continued to cash their child support grants.
Their plight was exposed in 2011 when the Daily Dispatch visited the area and reported on how the Gada* children – Monwabisi, 19, Vuyokazi, 16, Asanda*, 12, Khanya*, 9, Akhona*, 8, Sethu*, 7, and Inga*, 4, were living in squalor in a dilapidated mud structure.
Their story touched the hearts of many Dispatch readers, resulting in people donating school uniforms, a bed and clothing. Eskom and the Department of Human Settlements also stepped in by providing electricity and a temporary structure.
A return visit to the area last week found bittersweet improvements to their living conditions, at least for the five youngest, who have been re-homed.
Sadly for older siblings Monwabisi and Vuyokazi, help came a little late in their lives and they are now on their own, forging a life for themselves.
Monwabisi, now 24, after an absence of some years, returned to the family home late last year, with a girlfriend and young child in tow.
The homestead comprises two small structures and Vuyokazi, now 21, lives alone in the other house with no job and very few employment options.
During the visit to their home last week, we learnt that Monwabisi left his siblings in 2012 and headed towards KwaZulu-Natal in search of greener pastures, and his mother.
Vuyokazi said: “He took the social grant money with him and I was left alone with the kids, with nothing to support us. He then started giving me a small portion of the money but never the full amount.
“It was a struggle. We could not afford to buy things for everyone. I gave up.”
Vuyokazi says by last year the struggle got too much and, leaving 15-year-old Asanda in charge, she went to Gauteng to try and find a job. Having dropped out of school after failing Grade 11, her attempts at finding employment have been unsuccessful so far.
“I was determined to make something of myself but it seemed that the odds were stacked against me at every turn. If my mother was a responsible person I would have finished school because she would have been here playing her role of mother,” she said, through her tears.
The young woman lasted six months in Johannesburg and says guilt, as well as the urging of her siblings, forced her to return late last year.
Soon after her return however, Asanda, Khanya, now 12, Akhona, 11, Sethu, 10, and Inga, 7, were moved to a children’s home.
“I was not consulted about this move.
“In fact, I was in town when they were taken away.
“In terms of their education, living at the home is good for them because they are closer to school and they have guaranteed meals – something I cannot give them,” she said.
“Living here they sometimes struggled to get to school when it rained because the river they crossed overflows.
“But now I’m left with nothing, because I too survived on their social grants,” she said.
The church group that runs the children’s home has organised to collect the social grant money on the younger children’s behalf.
Monwabisi added: “A part of me is sad they have moved out but I am hopeful it will give them the chance of a better future.”
While in KwaZulu-Natal he said he managed to track down his mother but claimed she refused to come back to the Eastern Cape.
“I tried to talk to her, to beg her to come home but she said no.
“It caused a fight between us.
“In December I heard she was around village for a funeral but she never bothered to come see how we were doing,” he said, adding that she has two other children living with her and her new partner in KwaZulu-Natal.
At the time of going to print, the children’s mother had not responded to calls and messages left by the Dispatch on her phone.
The five younger siblings live in the Apostolic Faith Mission Cluster Foster Home in their village.
Their school principal, Mzobanzi Sobantwana, and school teachers were instrumental in getting them placed at this home.
Younger sister Asanda, 16, is now the mother of a one-month-old baby girl named Buhle, who lives with them.
She said she was “happy living at the foster home”.
Akhona agreed saying: “there is always a meal ready for us when we come home from school”.
Youngest sibling Inga, who was a year old when his mother left, said he did not remember what she looked like. “But I think I would like to meet her one day.”
The foster home has six houses in a secure yard and each house has a den mother looking after six children.
Nobongile Dlume said it was a pleasure taking care of the Gada children.
“I have fallen in love with them. They are such sweet children, not troublesome at all. I have picked up that all they want from me is attention, just to have someone to tell how their school day has been,” she said.
With all the hardships endured by the Gada children, the hope is that they get to finish their schooling so that the vicious cycle of impoverished children will not be repeated in baby Buhle’s generation. — siyab@ dispatchlive.co.za/
*The names of the minors have been changed to protect their identities
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