Let’s join hands to protect South Africa’s children

What you want for your own children or grandchildren … security, good health, the best education, encouragement and love … is what all children deserve. But the reality is completely different for far too many of our country’s children.

One in three South African kids experiences violence – usually at the hands of someone they know. Many grow up in communities where poverty, unemployment, violence and substance abuse are the norm. Childhood is nothing like the time of innocence, curiosity, wonder and joy that it should be.

Child Protection Week (29 May–5 June) shines the spotlight on the need for all of us to get involved in helping to protect little ones. If you know, or suspect that a child is being abused or neglected, please pick up the phone and dial 116 to report it to Childline. You could rescue a child from a toxic environment, and help give them back their right to a happy childhood.

That’s  what happened with the three Jacobs* sisters. Aged 4, 8 and 12 years, the girls have now been placed in our care by the courts, following a tip off from a concerned member of the community.  Their mom appears to be mentally ill, often leaving the kids alone without food.  12-year-old Andi was expected to care for her little sisters. None of them have a birth certificate or immunisation card, and they have no idea how to relate to others in a social situation.

Here at the Durban Child & Youth Care Centre, the sisters have a safe and comfortable home, plenty of good healthy food, and lots of love and guidance from our dedicated child care workers. They’ve started school and are continually assessed and counselled to help them adjust to their new life.