Comment by Viv Messenger

Ubuhle Bezwe Remedial School reg no 050 – 148 - NPO

Before Christmas our division was divided into 8 teams and helped a Charity of our choice. Most of us were able to give an under privileged home a Christmas party and were able to clothe the children in the home.

Through a Social Worker in Kempton Park we heard of the above mentioned home.

Barbara Sepota and her husband and 2 children live in a small 4 roomed house in Motheong, Tembisa. Mr Sepota is an electrician and sponsors the day care centre, on his meagre salary.

Barbara who runs the home caters for 50 children and some of the grandparents( additional 20) and care givers, who work for nothing, on a daily basis. Most of the children are orphans, whose parents have died of HIV. Six of the children were living in the veld as they were orphaned. Some of the children are sent by the Social Welfare Department.   

Barbara gets very little state aid as most of the children are not registered, so she cannot claim social grants for them due to the fact that they have been abandoned at birth or found in the veld or in toilets! She uses 20 loaves of bread a day and tries to give the children an evening meal of fish, (tinned) and bread. They take 2 slices of dry bread for their school lunch, & no breakfast.

There is no bathroom, only 1 outside cold water tap – the children bathe outside in buckets with warm water from the urn and there is only one outside toilet.  There is no geyser for water and at present Barbara’s electricity bill is R800 a month.   At the back of her house is a wooden Zozo hut, which accommodated 22 boys.

Thanks to monthly pledges from our colleagues we have bought a small amount of food, baby formula, fruit and vegetables, which has helped in a small way.  We deliver these once a month.

As you can imagine having a family of 70 the list of essentials is enormous, with schooling, stationery, transport to and from school, food, toiletries and nappies.

Our dream for Barbara is to buy the centre their own home. At the moment, the property is rented from Barbara’s Mother in Law and we are reluctant for us to improve somebody else’s property.

Last week there were 5 sick babies in bed all only drinking black rooibos tea as there was no formula.  The latest addition was a 2 week old little boy whose Mum of 14 was raped. She is at school so Barbara cares for the baby.

They have no lounge.  They have only one small table.  There is nowhere for the children to sit and eat. They eat outside and sit on a little wall at the back of the house.  We wondered where they sit to do their homework.

Due to the lack of space only 10 kids can watch TV at a time on a rotating basis.   

RAIN – ROOF LEAKING AND WET BLANKETS

Recently a lady called Helen Frazer from Nashua’s social responsibility Fund has got involved. She has done 2 monthly food drops of essentials like toiletries, and basic food stuff. As we at Sasfin only collect R840 a month we supplement this half way through the month.

Friends of Claudia’s sponsored a golf day for our home. They are still collecting the donations and this will be held in a Trust until we raise enough to buy property.

Please help us to make a difference to these people’s lives.

You may remember that I sent out a notice about this home before Christmas. Claudia and I and the legal team are making this our project for the year.

A brief summary of the home – 36 children living in a 2 bedroomed home – a Wendy house outside sleeps the boys, who sleep on the floor. The balance of the children ranging in age from 0 to 18, share beds and floor space.

Barbara who runs the home caters for 50 children and some of the grandparents and care givers, who work for free, on a daily basis.. She uses 20 loaves of bread a day and tries to give the children an evening meal of fish – tinned and bread. They take 2 slices of dry bread for their school lunch.

There is no bathroom, only 1 outside tap – the children bath outside in buckets and there is one outside toilet. There is no kitchen sink.

Since December I am amazed at how much has been done – a new galvanised Wendy house, a new oven, carpets and clothing. We have organised the roof to be repaired – previously it leaked like a sieve, and the children have to be moved in the middle of the night to duck out of the rain.

Having seen the house you can see it needs much more help. Barbara said she doesn’t want us improving her present home as it is rented. Claudia through her contacts is hoping to raise the deposit, at least to buy their own home. Barbara gets very little state aid as most of the children are not registered, so she can not claim social grants for them. They can not get registered as a lot of them are orphans, and have no history of where they come from or from whom.

What I would like to get from our SASFIN collegues are monthly pledges to help Barbara budget. We can pay this into the Tembisa Checkers, and if enough over maybe help with her electricity, which is R600 per month. Or the monthly transport to and from the school, or even schooling for a child. They started school this year, with no school fees, or any stationary. They do not have a table at the home to do their homework on. The only space they have, is outside, on a bare concrete wall, in the blazing sun.

Looking forward to everyone’s response! Please remember R20 a month will buy 4 loaves of bread and every little bit helps!!

Regards,

Viv Messenger

Barbara Sepota started Ubukle Beswe Child  centre for HIV orphans in 2004. She loves children and it just happened that children started to come to her with their broken lives. She is now registered as a NGO Nr 050-148 NPO (24/07/2006).

She and her husband live in a small 4 room house in Honeybirdstreet Motheong, Tembisa.  Mr Sepota is a electrician and sponsored the daycare centre.

At the back of her house is a wooden apartment about 4 x 6 meters which she uses as the day care centre.  About 56 come every day to her.  Most of them are HIV orphans whose parents died. They live with their grannies. Most of the grannies are not working. Some of them received grants for themselves.  Most of the children don’t have birth certificates and are told that’s the reason why they can’t apply for grants.  Some of the children are sexually abused and abandoned.

Barbara is a very special lady.  Her family shares everything they have with these orphans.  She wants to give so much for the children, but because of lack of money it is very hard.

About 3-5 volunteers help her with the children.

•       She helps the children who are in school with homework.

•       She battle to get everyone in school but struggle with uniforms and school fees.

•       She gives everyone about 2 meals a day.

•       Children attending school receive dry bread for school.

•       She feed about 10 grannies too.

•       She took care of about 6 babies. Childline place them with her.

•       Everyone has a warm bath before they go home in the evening.

•       She takes the children to the clinic but receive poor treatment.

•       She really needs people to help her to structure this organization.

Things she need:

Blankets, pillows

Books to read

Building materials to enlarge her house and wooden apartment

Burglar proof

Cell phone (old one)

Cleaning materials:  dish soap, Jik, Handy Andy, clothes, etc

Clothes and shoes

Disposable nappies

Electricity (R600 p/m)

Food

Margarine

Matresses

Medicine: e.g   Panado tablets/syrup, cough syrup, Pectrolite, antiseptic ointment, plasters, for diarree and nausea, colds, milk formula for babies (Nan 1, Nan 2)

Peanut butter

Plastic buckets to wash the children

Plastic chairs

Pots for potty training

Powder milk

School clothes/uniforms:  grey pants, white & blue shirts

School fees for each child (R100-R150 per year)

Stationary, crayons, colouring books

Steel gate at entrance

Stimulation material

Tea

Toiletries:  soap, roll-on for each child, tooth brushes, tooth paste, sanitary towels, Vaseline, cream, aqueos cream), bum cream, shampoo

Towels

Toys, puzzles

Transport

TV

Urn

Vitamins

Washing machine

I am going to try to find help from the Dept of Social Welfare with birth certificates, grants and medical services.

THIS REPORT WAS COMPILED BY A SOCIAL WELFARE OFFICER WHO VISITED THIS HOME IN NOVEMBER.