SOS team stands with the women from the Mpologeni community brick-making project

Siphiso shows us the tools of his grass cutting business
 

Children play soccer with Craig on the neighbourhood field in Nelspruit
 

The SOS Canada team "turns the sod" in Rustenburg

Grandmother-headed family in Mamelodi
 

Joy's daycare centre in the Mamelodi township

Members of the Support Group put on a performance for us

SOS Canada team comes to Southern Africa

For the first time since my placement in southern Africa, I had the pleasure of hosting a team from SOS Canada, and showing them around some of our programs in the region. The team consisted of SOS Canada's National Director, Boyd McBride, Partnership Coordinator, Kelsey Lemon, SOS Canada's FIFA Ambassador and former captain of the Canadian Men's Soccer Team, Craig Forrest, Sophie Forrest also acting in an ambassadorial role, Greg Sizele senior producer of Canada’s most popular soccer show SoccerCentral, which is hosted by Craig, and cameraman extraordinaire, Shawn Cable.

Amongst the highlights of the trip was the warmth and hospitality shown by the Children's Villages, including the tasty, home-cooked meals provided by the SOS Mothers, hours spent playing soccer with the SOS and community children, and the little friends from the kindergartens who crawled all over us. Here are a few more special memories from the trip...
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Ennerdale

Our first visit was to the SOS Children's Village in Ennerdale, and we could not have asked for a better start to our trip. No sooner had we stepped out of our vehicle at the Village gate, than we heard the sounds of drumming coming from down the road. As we ran to take a look, we saw a marching group of drummers and majorettes parading up the road towards us. It was only when they marched into the SOS Social Centre, that we realized they had come to welcome us. The group was composed of children from the local community who benefit from SOS's family strengthening program, and was led by a lady who is also a program beneficiary. Once in the courtyard of the Social Centre, the children performed routines for us combining traditional dances with the marching band style. They were a very talented bunch.

As we entered the Social Centre we were greeted by members of the Support Group, formed by HIV positive caregivers of children benefiting from the program. Several members stood up and told us their stories, and how the Support Group had helped them to live positively with the disease, be open about their status, and seek anti-retroviral therapy with the assistance of the program. We then had a chance to mingle and chat with the whole group. They had prepared traditional and gospel song and dance performances for us, which turned into a full-fledged celebration on the lawn of the Social Centre.

Mamelodi

Our next stop was at the Children's Village in Mamelodi, an area which was formerly a black township under Apartheid. Although black South Africans are no longer compelled to live in “designated” areas, the township remains for economic reasons, consisting of both formal and informal housing. The residents of Mamelodi who are better off live in small brick and concrete houses, while others live in informal settlements – a sea of shacks that do not have access to proper sanitation or electricity.

The SOS Canada team was taken around the township by a volunteer working with the SOS Mamelodi Social Centre, who is caring for his late sister's orphaned children. For this reason, he donates his time to the Centre's family strengthening program to help others in similar situations. He showed us a communal garden where program beneficiaries grow nutritious food for their families, and a community daycare centre which receives assistance from the program. Joy, the founder of the daycare, cares for many orphaned and vulnerable children during the day, while their caregivers work or search for employment.

The team also visited a household headed by a grandmother who was caring for nine orphaned children from her late daughter and sister. She welcomed us warmly with a big smile, and introduced us to the children who were all sitting outside the family's shack, who ranged in age from toddlers to twelve years old. Despite her unfortunate circumstance, the grandmother is doing her best to keep the family together and make sure the children stay in school. However, in an unguarded moment her smile faded and it was possible to see the anguish and fatigue in her face.

Rustenburg

One of the main reasons for the team's visit was to attend the launch of SOS South Africa's newest Children's Village in Rustenburg, North West province. This Village has special significance because it will be one of six villages around the world sponsored by the SOS-FIFA partnership to build six new villages by the end of the 2006 World Cup in Germany. South Africa was chosen, as it will host the 2010 World Cup, and Rustenburg, due to the overwhelming need for a long-term childcare facility, as well as the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the area. In partnership with the Canadian Soccer Association, SOS Canada has committed to funding the construction and running costs of several of the family houses in the Rustenburg Village.

The ceremony was held at the neighbouring Olympia Stadium, followed by the sod-turning on the construction site of the future Children's Village. The event was attended by the Premier of the North West province, the CEO of the South African Football Association, the CEO of the Local Organizing Committee of the 2010 World Cup, as well as members of the local government. Craig participated in the sod-turning ceremony along with another soccer great and strong supporter of SOS, fellow FIFA Ambassador for SOS South Africa, Lucas Radebe. Lucas, former captain of the South African national team and Leeds United defender, has just retired, donating a large proportion of the proceeds from his farewell tour to SOS South Africa. It was agreed by all that the launch of the new Village in Rustenburg was a great success.

Nelspruit

From Rustenburg, the team traveled to the Nelspruit Children's Village, which the Rustenburg Village will be modeled after. The Nelspruit Village is unique as it was built according to the "SMI" (solid, modest and integrated) model, and blends into surrounding community, without standing out as a childcare facility. The SOS family homes were built in line with the neighbourhood standards and are situated in amongst other neighbouring homes. There are no SOS logos on the homes or on the Village office. With time, the Village has become part of the community; community members seek the advice of Village staff on local matters, and in turn the Village relies on their support for the SOS families. Best of all, the SOS and neighbourhood children mix and mingle, making it impossible to differentiate who is who during the after-school playtime when the children gather on the play area outside the houses.

It was during this time in the late afternoon that Craig joined in on a lively game of soccer with children of all ages from the entire neighbourhood, both boys and girls. The children were very intent on refereeing the game themselves, instituting a full set of rules - "out of bounds" and "penalty kicks". The children who chose not to play soccer engaged in other games, playing quietly on the sidelines. One little boy, who was a new arrival to the Village, had only come to the village a few days earlier. He was quieter than the other children, and slightly withdrawn, but had a sweet demeanor. His large sad eyes, spoke of the loss he had already endured by age six - first his mother had passed away, and then he was put in the care of his grandmother, who also died. However, we all felt that this child had come to right place. The other children had already embraced him - literally - while we were sitting with him a group of children rushed up and one little girl threw her arms around him, bringing him with them to join their game. The next day we visited his kindergarten class and he seemed to be doing very well, participating alongside the other children.

While in Nelspruit we also spent some time with the family strengthening program, which is based in the communities of Kanyamazane and Tegwane. We met with one of the program beneficiaries, a very inspirational young man named Siphiso, which means "wish". Still only in his teens, Siphiso is the head of his family, and has been caring for his two younger siblings since the death of their parents. The program assisted Siphiso by purchasing a lawn mower for him to start his own grass cutting business. Siphiso has been so successful with his business that he now has two employees working under him and has started doing landscaping for larger properties. His own small lawn in the township is a model for his business, with nicely trimmed plants surrounded by neat shapes cut into the grass. Everyday he goes to work early, so he can be at home by the time his brother and sister arrive home from school. He was proud to show us one of his machines and repeatedly kept saying "I'm so happy you came to visit me".

Swaziland

Our trip would not have been complete without a visit to neighbouring Swaziland. The Children's Village in Mbabane was our final destination, and everything that we’d seen along the way was deeply affecting the team. We spent the morning visiting AIDS-affected households, who were receiving assistance from SOS's family strengthening program. In one household, two members were ill and one of them completely bed-ridden; their decrepit shack was crumbling all around them. I have since heard that the bedridden family member has received medical assistance with the help of the program coordinator. The tragedy of their situation really hit home as we passed through a tourist area with five-star hotels on either side of the road. It was a painful contrast.

After visiting the families, our spirits were lifted by visiting a project site in the community of Mpolongeni where SOS is partnering with the local community and UNICEF to support orphans and vulnerable children in the area. The project was started by local women to ensure that children from child-headed and grandmother-headed families had enough food to make it through the month. Some of the families were receiving a food parcel from SOS, but it was not sufficient to tide them over till the end of the month. So the women decided to cook a daily meal for these families out of their own resources. UNICEF is now providing the food supplies to support their work. With the help of SOS, the women have started their own brick-making project to build structures to house the project, which will consist of a kitchen, literacy classroom and storeroom. The literacy class will be provided for children who are not able to attend school due to their families' inability to pay school fees. The women have worked at extremely hard at the brick-making project, for which SOS provides the materials. They donate their time and labour day after day without expecting anything in return, and were very pleased to give us a demonstration of their work.

When we returned to the Village that evening, the children had prepared a special performance for us. Both the boys and girls dance groups performed traditional Swazi dances dressed in traditional attire. As part of one dance, the girls narrated a serious message about preventing HIV/AIDS. It was apparent how lucky these children were in comparison to those we had seen on our visit into the communities. It was an emotional close to an amazing experience for the SOS Canada team.

I was very proud to have hosted this team, who represented SOS Canada in exemplary fashion. Always appreciative, courteous and friendly, they made many friends everywhere we went. I hope they have taken with them experiences that will continue to motivate and support our work on both sides of the ocean.