The Qwa Qwa foster children and I outside one of the family homes
 

Manthabiseng and I.
 

The newly built community family homes
 

Foster mothers work cooperatively in their communal garden to grow fresh vegtables for their families
 

Foster mothers working in their communal garden
 

Qwa Qwa Community Family Homes

During my last work placement in South Africa, I spent sometime at an SOS pilot project in Qwa Qwa, located in the Free State. In response to the growing orphan crisis in the Qwa Qwa area, SOS began piloting an alternative form of long-term care for orphaned and vulnerable children, which was developed in close cooperation with local government and community leaders. SOS has established “community family homes” that are located in the community, and owned and equipped by SOS. These homes provide family-based care to local children, who are cared for by a volunteer foster mother from the community. The foster mothers receive an incentive allowance from SOS and foster care grants from the government for each of the children under their care.

While I was in Qwa Qwa documenting this project, I stayed in a community family home with one of the SOS foster mothers, so this time I was anxious to return and see what progress the project had made.

During my first stay, the foster mothers and their children were living in temporary accommodation, while SOS constructed the permanent homes for the project. When I returned this time, the families had moved into their new homes. The homes are built in a neighbourhood located on a high plateau overlooking the entire area, from which a beautiful view of Qwa Qwa’s mountainous terrain stretches as far as the eye can see. The homes themselves are simple (please see photo), as they were deliberately designed and built to fit in with the local neighbourhood. This way, the foster families can blend with their neighbours, enabling the children to grow up in as natural an environment as possible.

When we arrived, the children were playing in a group, running in between the houses. It was such a pleasure to see them enjoying the happy and carefree childhood that every child deserves. Knowing the history of these children made it all the more meaningful. Before coming to the SOS community family homes, all of these children lacked a stable, secure, family environment. They came from a local orphanage, where they did not receive the love of a parent or guardian, and the kind of nurturing every child needs in order to grow up healthy and happy.

As we (a colleague and I) approached the homes, the children stopped their game and came running over to us. The foster mothers asked the children if they remembered who I was, and they replied with shouts of “Emmay!” I was delighted that they hadn’t forgotten me. They all came over and gave me a thumbs-up, accompanied by their little voices saying “sharp” (which in South African slang means “cool”). The biggest change I noticed was with *Manthabiseng, a shy little girl, with whom I had stayed during my last visit. The last time, she had been terrified of me, which was not surprising considering her troubled history. Prior to coming to the community family homes, she had spent all of her young life in an orphanage, where she was brought as an infant, except for a brief period when she was adopted and then returned to the institution. This time, she did not cry, but held my hand and quietly told the foster mothers that I was her “house sister”. What a difference nine months of love and care can make!

The commitment of the foster mothers to their children is really overwhelming. I said to one of the foster mothers that I was very happy to return and find her still working with the project. She simply replied, “If you had come back years later, you would have found us here still.”

*Name has been changed.