Mar 27, 2024 | Blog
KZN has been challenged with an escalating outbreak of Pink Eye over the past two months. The Department of Health reported that at least 161 cases a day are being reported, with the number of confirmed cases reaching over 1,000 in various parts of the eThekwini District since February 2024.
Conjunctivitis, commonly known as Pink Eye is the inflammation of the thin membrane called the conjunctiva, which covers the whites of the eye and the inner part of the eyelid. It can be caused by either a viral or bacterial infection. It is extremely infectious.
Managing an outbreak of any contagious infection is extremely difficult in any home, let alone a children’s home! Here at DCYCC we have had to contend with a fair number of cases where both children and staff have been infected. We seem to be over the worst; however, reinfection is a real possibility. To minimise this risk, we have embarked on an awareness campaign with our children and staff and thought to share our learning with you.
Question – What causes Pink eye?
- Viral Infection: Most often, pink eye results from a viral infection.
- Bacterial Infection: Sometimes, it is caused by bacteria.
- Allergic Reaction: Allergies can trigger pink eye.
- Incompletely Opened Tear Duct (in babies).
Question – What are the common symptoms of Pink Eye?
- Light pink to red discolouration of the eye
- Swelling and irritation of the eyelid
- Sticky discharge, which crusts in the eyelids and/or eyelashes
- Increased tear production
- Itching and burning of the eye
While pink eye can be irritating, it rarely affects vision. Treatments can help ease the discomfort. If you experience new, severe, or persistent symptoms, it is essential to contact a healthcare provider.
Question – How long does Pink Eye last?
- Mild cases clear in one to two weeks
- Viral infections may take up to three weeks or longer to clear
Question – How can the spread of Pink Eye be prevented? According to the Department of Health one should;
- Practice good personal hygiene, regularly washing hands.
- Avoid sharing face cloths, eye cosmetics, or pillows.
- Change pillowcases often and discard old eye cosmetics, such as mascara.
- Avoid touching one’s eyes with your hands.
We hope this helps!
Resources: https://www.kznhealth.gov.za/mediarelease/2024/confirmed-cases-of-pink-eye-in-ethekwini-02032024.htm
Feb 28, 2024 | Blog
The wonderful response we received through likes and shares to a quote we posted on our Facebook page about a week ago, made us decide to dedicate this month’s blog post to the topic.
“You have the power to change your story, no matter what page you’re on.”
I feel sure that many would agree that life in general is difficult for everyone! Regardless of what stage of life we are in; childhood, adolescent, or adulthood, we all feel stuck at times. Sometimes it’s a specific challenge, or a range of difficult challenges, it may be experiences that cause unbearable pain, feelings that weigh us down, or anxiety and fear of the unknown. At these times we find it difficult to see the light or even muster the strength to keep going, to feel motivated, to hold onto hope. We wake up every morning with a feeling of dread in the pit of our belly, a feeling like life is being drained from our body. We yearn to turn the page of this chapter but struggle to find the strength or believe that there will be change.
As impossible as it seems, especially when we are sitting in the darkness of despair, there is a way out. The first step to seeing change in our life is to believe it. We have the power to change our story. When we change our thoughts, we begin to change our words and then our actions follow. Depending on the type of change we’re hoping for, some of us can make drastic changes in our lives, with drastic results. Different approaches work for different people. The trick is to find what works for you.
Let’s try this; imagine you’re in your room and you want to re-arrange some furniture and declutter your space. You have a picture in your head of how you want your room to look. You focus on the room as it is now, and then use your energy to start moving one thing at a time, until it looks as close to the picture you had in your head as possible. Now apply the same concept to what you want to change in your life. Identify what you want to change and then focus your energy on that. Take the steps necessary to achieve the goal, small steps made consistently over time result in giant leaps. So, for example, you want to start living a healthy lifestyle. You sign up to go to the gym. That’s the first step. Then the next step would be to set realistic goals. Determine the number of days you want to go to the gym. Then workout the number of days you have available to actually go. Going to the gym even once a week, is already a positive step in the right direction. Once you get into the routine of being active, you may increase the number of weekly gym sessions, and start focusing on other areas such as changing your diet, going on hikes, joining a cycling club…….
We have the power to change our story no matter what page we’re on. So, start, just step out and take one small step, forwards, in the direction of your picture, and you will see how each step moves you closer to changing your story.
“A journey of thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Lao Tzu
Jan 31, 2024 | Blog
Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others – Johnathan Swift
Have you noticed how one can move through seasons of just bobbing along….just bobbing along carried this way and that way by the currents of life or just bobbing in one spot? Well here at DCYCC we are resolute that 2024 will not be a year of just bobbing along. And in our opinion one of the ways personal and professional success is to have a specific intent, a clear vision and a plan of action. So armed with this plan at our weekly team meeting on Monday, I challenged our staff to stop and consider their vision. A lively discussion on the importance of having a vision for our lives ensued. We spoke of how we as role models for our young people are in control of three things in our lives – The thoughts we think, the future we visualise for our lives and the action we take towards realising this vision. How we need to have a goal for our personal lives before we can encourage our young people to shape their own vision and identify the goals that they need to achieve this.
We spent time creating individual vision boards for ourselves. Wow! This was the most creative and exciting session I think we’ve ever had as a team. It was so inspiring to see the team think out of their comfort zones and learn a new way to express their personal dreams.
A vision board is a simple collection of images, clear goals, quotes, and inspiring affirmations that represent how you want your life to look. And it’s such an amazing tool to remind you of the life you want. A vision board helps you focus and gives you a clear picture of where you want to be in life. You can add encouraging quotations to remind and inspire you to keep moving forward towards that goal. A vision board can be considered a dream board. I once read that a dream written down with a date becomes a goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. A visual plan backed by action makes your dreams a reality.
The activity was such as success with the team, that we’ve decided to do the same activity with our young people. Its hard to believe how fast time is going, but as we step into the month of February tomorrow I encourage you to create personal vision board for yourself and get your children to do the same. You will be surprised at how helpful and motivating this process will be, and best of all you will have something tangible to prevent you from just bobbing through 2024.
Jan 4, 2024 | Blog
At the core of what we at DCYCC stand for, is a deep and abiding belief that ‘’a child develops best within the loving support of family, and if possible, the first choice should be the child’s own biological family’’. Unfortunately, there are times when efforts to preserve family fail, and to ensure the safety of a child, they are removed from the family unit and placed into our care for a period.
It is during this time that our child care team works to prepare the child to be reunified with their family. You may ask, …but why? After all the child was removed from the family. One of the principles of family preservation is that families and indeed individuals have the ability to change when given adequate support. And that when we meet them where they are, motivate them to identify what needs to change and then support them in taking responsibility for the changes, that the family system heals and becomes a healthy place for children to develop.
Every year we do our best to achieve the goal of reunification and this year has been no different. Having promoted connectedness with family and community, extremely important for a child’s sense of identity, families have achieved the changes required for the return of their children. Witnessing the enthusiastic participation of family and children during the Parental Support Programme offered by our child care team each year, is evidence of their commitment to the processes required for the return of their child. It is always a great pleasure for us to share the number of children who we have had a hand in successfully reunifying with their families. This year a total of 16 children will be reunited with biological family.
Successful reintegration of children back into family and community is only achieved through the collaborated efforts between our child and youth care centre and the specific agency responsible for the management of the case. We take this opportunity to thank the relevant District Offices of the Department of Social Development and Child Welfare Agencies for their partnership over this past year.
This is always a bitter sweet time for our children, whilst on the one-hand there are those preparing for returning into the care of family, there is another group who will just visit with family for a period over the holiday and yet another group, who for a wide variety of reasons cannot, have to remain with us for the entire holiday. Each group has its own cauldron of thoughts and feelings to deal with. Behaviour gives expression to fear, anxiety, disappointment, pain… the list is long. Indeed, it is an emotional period for all. Here are some of the steps we take to help children manage their feelings;
- Keep a very close eye on any changes in the child’s usual behaviour.
- When change is noted, come alongside the child, and let him/her know that we can see something is bothering them.
- Encourage him/her to identify and express the feeling in words, picture, song, poem, prayer……any healthy form of expression.
- Acknowledge the feelings expressed.
- Sit with them in, and through the feeling.
- Reassure him/her that these feelings are part of transition.
Oct 19, 2023 | Blog
Career guidance is a process that helps children make informed decisions about their career paths. It is a reality that many children find themselves in a state of panic when faced with having to make important decisions, especially one that will set their life on a specific path. Generally, advice is sought from parents, teachers, and friends before deciding on taking any action. Since choosing a career, is one of the most important decisions your child can make in life, it is important that this process is approached sensibly.
We currently have two matriculants in our organisation. One of them is confident and sure about his career path, while the other is perplexed and confused about what he should do. Our Social Workers have been spending focussed time with each of them, offering them guidance, discussing available opportunities and support as they plan for this next phase in their lives.
The sad reality is that many of our children come from disadvantaged backgrounds. When families are struggling to survive from one day to the next, discussions on planning for the future just don’t happen. Here at Durban Child and Youth Care Centre we have the wonderful privilege of being able to encourage our children to dream big, and to think about what it is they would like to be when they grow up. Career guidance should be a process, not an event, as such we start guidance children from an early age. We design and implement activities that help them understand their strengths and weaknesses and then match them with their skills and interests to help make this process more manageable for them.
These are some tips that you may find helpful when you assist your child decide on his/her career path:
- Help them discover and enhance their personal strengths.
- Assure them that this is a journey, that they shouldn’t compare themselves with others; so not to be hard on themselves if they are struggling to figure out the what, where and how.
- Look for volunteer and learnership opportunities. It’s a practical way to gain experience and insight into a particular industry or field of work.
- Encourage them to always dream big and have big goals.
- Help them break the big goals into achievable steps.
- And most importantly remind them that there is more than one path to arriving at their destination.
Sep 20, 2023 | Blog
Heritage Day is celebrated now during the month of September. A day when the vibrancy of cultures that is our South African nation, commemorate the diversity of beliefs and traditions that defines a culture. This celebration is about all of us learning about, respecting, and appreciating our own cultures and the culture of others.
Here at DCYCC we hold an Annual Heritage Day Celebration. Our children are encouraged to express their culture through song, dance, and poetry. As time draws closer to the function, the excitement builds. Our child care team sit and develop a ‘taster menu’. This menu offers a range of cultural foods for our children to enjoy; there’s coleslaw, breyani, madumbe, samoosa’s, tripe……it’s an extensive array of tantalising cultural dishes.
Whilst awareness of one’s culture is important for the development of identity, within the multicultural environment of our programme we see how children embrace their own customs and traditions, but also show a keen interest in those of the children they share their ‘temporary’ home with.
I recently sat and spoke with our teenage boys, a group representing all shades and backgrounds, and asked what was needed for them to live in harmony, the unanimous reply was – respect, kindness, communication, and a positive attitude. If only us adults could see our diversity through the eyes of our country’s children – oh how wonderful it would be!
Wishing you and your families a vibrant and enriching Heritage Day!
