Orphans and Vulnerable Children

Our solution:

The most important aspect of the vocation of the community at Mother of Peace is the alleviation of the plight of these OVCs; those who cannot be supported by extended family or by community structures by providing family homes.

These children will live at Mother of Peace in family groups with six children. Each family will have a house mother whose vocation it will be to support and nurture these children as their mother.

We aim to reconstitute traditional Catholic family values in the lives of these orphaned children. We aim to give them a family, to feed them, to clothe them, to educate them, and to let them play. We want to give them quality of life.

Mother of Peace, therefore, aims to provide safe, loving, family-oriented, and structured home environments in which children can grow up as children.

This will result in the improvement of each child's:
Cognitive and physical development
Psycho-social well-being
Spiritual growth

How project goals will be accomplished:
Health & well being:
Children will be given nutritious meals. They will be taught personal hygiene and will be given medical attention where necessary. The physical environment of the community will also contribute to the improvement and well-being of children. With wide-open spaces, trees, and lots of fresh air, children can be free to exercise and play. The Welfare department will assist in evaluating the progress of these children in terms of physical and emotional health. We will also be using the services of a social worker at least twice a week.

Education of children:
As the majority of the children who form part of our target group will have been unable to attend school for a period of time, a system of home-schooling will be used to get them to a satisfactory level of education. Thereafter they will be individually assessed to see whether they would benefit from being placed in the public school system. External assessors, who will be able to determine whether sufficient progress is being made in this regard, will measure progress.

Family life:
In order to provide a sound family life for the children, a maximum of six children (in line with Welfare regulations) will be placed in the care of a housemother, who will be assisted by a caregiver. To all intents and purposes the housemother will be their mother. It is expected that the children will bond with her and will look to her for discipline and guidance. The housemothers are being sourced primarily from Catholic parishes. Mothers will be given guidance and training in childcare, counselling and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. In this way, under the direct guidance and influence of the Mother of Peace community, the families will be cared for spiritually and physically, within an environment where daily prayers and the teachings of the Catholic Church are paramount.

Care for the sick and terminally ill:
Another important aspect of the calling of the Mother of Peace community, given that HIV/AIDS is affecting a large proportion of our people (including the children who will live at Mother of Peace), is the emphasis that will be placed on the care of the sick and terminally ill. Children will be cared for in their own homes. When this becomes too difficult there will be a small infirmary on the property where these children will be lovingly cared for. Children will remain close to their mothers; they will be taken to the hospital only when necessary. Our aim is to keep them in a loving environment where they are close to their families. The clinic may, at a later stage, have a resident nursing sister, and there are plans to source volunteer doctors. There is a primary health clinic near us, so this will be utilised for common childhood illnesses until we are able to do this ourselves. Clinic cards will be used and records of all illnesses and treatments, whether on or off the property, will be kept.

Results:
Success will be measured using a variety of indices, both formal and informal, e.g., educational reports, health reports, and behavioural reports. The use of these reports will ensure that improvement is made in the physical, emotional and spiritual well-being of the children.

Health reports will show the health status of the children and will track the improvement of their physical well-being. Improvement in their physical health will be the contributing factor in any other area of development and is, therefore, the most important factor.

Educational reports will track the educational development of the children and show areas that need to be developed. This will ensure that all children will be brought to an acceptable level of education and, where necessary, developed further in areas in which they show potential.

Behavioural reports will be a clear indication of the success of the project as a whole. If the children are being successfully nurtured and educated this will be expressed in their behaviour.

Coupled to this but perhaps more difficult to quantify is the provision of Catholic family values, and a spirituality which is based on the Gospel. To this end they will be given the gift of faith through the family. Ultimately, this can only be measured by the fruits of their lives.

External evaluation will be regularly undertaken by the Department of Social Welfare and Population Development.