The Mamelodi Voice
SUMMER 2012
Enzo James on the jungle gym at the SOS Children’s Village.
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Photo: JANKE TOLMAY
Gontse Majopela soaks up the sun in a tyre.
Photo: JANKE TOLMAY
No father figure leaves boys unsure Gladis Monyebodi prepares for supper while the children are at school. Photo: ZEENAT PATEL
pressing needs. Victoria* who has been working as a mother in the Village for over a decade, left her young daughter in the Eastern Cape to care for ten orphaned and abandoned children. She only has the opportunity to go home every two months. She cares for her family by handling the financial responsibilities. Victoria feels that although the children can be a handful they bring happiness into her life on a daily basis which makes all of the sacrifices she makes worthwhile.
Nompi James enjoys the outdoors. Photo: JANKE TOLMAY
for them. Mhlangu came to the village from Nelspruit in October 2008 to fulfil her dream of working with children. Like Victoria, she has had to sacrifice living with her child. Mhlangu said it is worth it because working at the village allows her to give her son a better life.
“It takes a lot of work to be a house mother and it is a lot of responsibility. I enjoy it and I love what I do and I would not trade it in for anything,” she said. Staff writers: Philip Stofberg,
Metha Viljoen, Janke Tolmay & Zeenat Patel
*Victoria did not want to give her surname
Khumpulile Mhlanga Assistant mother Assistant mother at the village and single parent to a one-year-old son, Khumpulile Mhlanga, said that SOS gave her a future. Mhlangu‟s role requires her to live in the village and stand in for the house mothers when they go home. She described her life as full of children, helping them get ready for school, assisting them with their homework and preparing their meals
House mother Thabile pleased with her children doing their school work. Photo: LERATO KHUMALO
Tom Aussems The lack of a male role model leaves orphan boys in the SOS Children‟s Village unsure about how to shape their adulthood. Sixteen year old Andile, or „Trance‟ as he likes to be called, is one of the kids living at the SOS Children‟s Village. For him, as well as a number of his peers, the biggest shortfall in their lives is the lack of a father figure. When they reach 18, the children in the villages are considered ready to start their adult lives. In Trance‟s case, being one of the older kids in the village, this reality is not far away. However, the road to adulthood and taking care of themselves is not always an easy one. “We‟re trained to make our lives better but without a father figure we [can‟t],” Trance said. He would love to start a family one day but he is not sure how to act like a father, nor does he know how to fix a car or treat a lady. For Trance the solution was an “initiation.” An initiation is a traditional inauguration into manhood. For Trance and his peers it is a way of compensating for the gap that their fathers have left behind. In order to become a man the children are required to survive and, amongst other things, fight with sticks. According to the Child and Youth Development Coordinator at the village, Victor Mbinga, boys often feel the need to express their newly acquired manliness which results in
dominant behaviour towards their caregivers and peers. Mbinga is one of five male staff members at the village. Many of the children - and boys in particular - treat him as a substitute father. Boys often approach him with pressing questions regarding circumcision, initiation and marriage. “There seems to be a lack of understanding of how to establish [their] own families. Boys do not feel comfortable enough to address these issues with their mothers,” Mbinga said. Social workers Tresia Mannao and Pinkie Sogayise acknowledged the lack of a father figure in the boys‟ lives. According to them, the boys become very affectionate and often smother the male visitors with questions. Mbinga stated that the children inevitably start enquiring about their biological parents. Mbinga noted that uncertainty about their parents and their formative years is a sensitive issue to many of the older boys in the village. “The father figure [problem] kills our kids,” said Mbinga. Many teenage boys become rebellious when these issues remain unattended and this often results in them disobeying and mistreating their foster moms. Mannao and Sogayise remain hopeful about the boys‟ futures, however, saying “Those who are curious enough, teach themselves [how to be an adult].”