Lulisandla Kumntwana (reach out to the child) is an orphan care project and also a fostering agency. Our teams of social workers and paralegals make sure that families with orphans have the necessary documents (ID’s, death certificates, etc.) to screen the carer (maybe a grandmother or older sibling) for suitability, and then place the orphan formally in foster care to assist the family to apply for the foster child grant.

But what happens next? Will the children be well cared for? Will the family use the grant to help the child? We have two foster coordinators whose task it is to supervise the foster placements, and to work together with the social workers to resolve problems they pick up.

Counseling Families

Foster coordinator Jabulai was concerned when he visited grandmother Mtheubu to check on how her granddaughters Mbali and Thwlile were doing. She told him that when they had started receiving the grant she had done as the staff at Lulisandla had advised—she opened a bank account for each child and had started putting R250* per month away for each of them. But now the girls had grown, and they were demanding that she should give the money to them. They said it was theirs and they should decide how to use it. Mbali especially was becoming sullen, not listening to her grandmother, refusing to help with chores at home, and not coming home on time.

Jabulai arranged to meet with the grandmother and the girls together. To start with the girls could not see that their behaviour was a problem and rather saw that their grandmother was being unreasonable. But with Jabulai’s help they all were able to talk openly about the way they saw things, and they began to understand each other and listen to each other.

They talked about the future and what they would do when they completed school and the girls started to see the value of having some money saved for further education. The grandmother also saw that the girls needed some money they could use for themselves. Together they agreed on a budget, so that each month there would be some money saved, some would be used for food and clothing, and the girls would also have a little pocket money. They also agreed on some ground rules for behaviour.

Jabulai went back after two months. Grandmother Mtheubu reported that the girls and she were getting on much better and she also proudly showed him the bank books she had been banking to the R250 and each child by then had R400 put aside. A year later it had risen to R7000 and the girls were excited about the future and the opportunities opening up for them.

*Note: 250 South African Rand is around 32 US Dollars

Pray

• For the children and caregivers that are involved with Lulisandla Kumntwana.
• For favorable relationships with the South African government and other NGOs.
• For wisdom for the staff as they work with each child and family to help as much as possible.
• That these children and families will draw near to God.

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