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nelson mandela bay's family lifestyle
author:
xandre van der berg
beyond tomorrow
photography:
zuko, lifegate photography
issue:
7, spring 2008
Children are very seldom the authors of their own circumstances. They are vulnerable and very dependant on the adults in whose world they live. In Du Toit Street, North End, there is a house offering escape from the cycle of abuse and poverty. You would imagine, with multitudes of minors roaming the streets, untended and exposed, that Nelson Mandela Bay would have quite a few havens where street children could find refuge. Or perhaps the absence of such establishments in our city is evident on the corners of our streets and at busy intersections. ACVV Khayalethu Youth Centre is the only registered haven for street children in this, one of our countries largest metropolitan areas. “The government's child-care system has been designed to take care of children, but even the best system experience difficulties in an environment where poverty, abuse and disease compound the challenges of the situation. Adulthood is reached, in a legal sense, when children reach the age of eighteen. Then the state does not deem it necessary or have the capacity to care for them. Think of your own children. Even if they start working directly after finishing school, they cannot cope financially or emotionally in the adult world - and they come from a stable environment. Imagine how difficult it would be to successfully make this transition, in the absence of the warmth and caring of a family.” ACVV Kayalethu Youth Centre has succeeded at assuring their children continuity in care and trust, while being part of their future. “Our mission is to provide intervention programs and alternative care for boys between the ages of 8 and 18. We meet these boys' basic needs through a holistic and developmental approach, always keeping in mind the ultimate aim of re-socializing these children and meaningfully re-integrating them into society. “We've found, however, abandoning these children at the age of eighteen to be extremely counter productive, often negating everything we've achieved during the time they were in our care. At our ACVV Kayalethu Oliver House we created a buffer. Here you'll find young men between the ages of 18 and 21. Three years can make all the difference. We attempt to find our boys an adequate skills program or apprenticeship and we guide them as they move on in a constructive and productive way. We want them to become the fathers they never knew - to be the effective providers they prayed for on cold and hungry nights.” The ACVV Kayalethu Youth Centre do not only find “their boys” employment, they also focus on transferring solid life skills, work-ethics, basic etiquette and the capacity to structure and plan their lives. “Your own children might have these abilities purely because they grew up in your home. They saw you interact with your partner. They shared in financial decisions. They came through tougher times as a family and learnt about how to act in a restaurant, because you took them to such places. These boys are poor in every imaginable respect. They don't know how to budget. They don't know how a family functions or even what responsibilities are synonymous with running a household. Our house eases them into this and so much more, so that they will eventually have more than a mere existence that duplicates their own childhood. From the nurturing of our nest our boys can take flight to become leaders, husbands and fathers of an improved future.” It is good to know that somewhere in our city, a sustainable long term impact is being made – one that will have influence past our own lifetime.
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