The Isibindi Project in Alice

Without a doubt, the most profound experience of this trip thus far has been centered around the Isibindi project we visited in Alice, South Africa. The town of Alice is most well known as the location of the University of Fort Hare, at which a large number of the current political figures in South Africa were educated, including Nelson Mandela himself. Alice itself is not a well to do University town like Graham's Town. Graham's Town itself has a great deal of poverty in the township, but Alice itself is poverty-stricken.

We haven't really hit on it yet in the blog, but HIV/AIDS is perhaps the number one problem in South Africa today. It is estimated that as of 2006, 29.1 percent of all pregnant women in South Africa were infected with HIV. That is a mind-numbing statistic. I won't get all into the reasons for this because that is a topic for another time, but suffice it to say that with all the HIV infected pregnant women, this leads to an extreme number of maternal orphans. In most cases, these children have lost their fathers as well to HIV.

The Isibindi project in Alice, as well as the 45 other locations around the country is a response to the poor children left behind. Isibindi means "courage" and the goal is to help orphaned children acquire the skills they need to survive and when possible to give them back a bit of their childhood. The Isibindi program in Alice is a joint effort between the Anglican Diocese of Grahamstown and the National Association of Child Care Workers (NACCW).

The purpose of Isibindi is to train women in the actual community to work with these orphans, some of whom live with grannies and others who live without any parental figure at all. Isibindi works to keep children in their own context, often living in their family home in their home communities. Unlike countries like the United States, orphans are so prevalent, it is impossible in many cases to place them in foster care. Estimates projected that by the end of 2008, there will be 1.5 million orphaned children in South Africa. A harrowing number in itself, it is made all the more poignant when one realizes that there are only 47 million people living here, of that around 15 million are children. Meaning that roughly 10% of all children in South Africa are orphans.

These orphans face terrible struggles: lack of income, physical and sexual abuse, lack of education, malnourishment, etc. Many of the children themselves are living with HIV and have no access to ARV medicines to help them. It is in the midst of this pain and sorrow, that the child care workers of Isibindi come to provide these children with love and care. Isibindi is about local communities, and so the workers themselves are always trained from within the community. Thus, lives are transformed not only with the orphans, but within the families and friends of the child care workers themselves. These women and men (although the women vastly outnumber the men, but more on that later) spend time each day with these children and grandmothers helping them learn to manage their finances, prepare healthy meals, go to school, grieve for their losses, obtain medicine, and play. Playing is something these children have largely lost as they are forced to assume adult roles often well before they are even teenagers.

The child care workers become a part of each and every family. They look after the well being of the children, advocating with all sorts of agencies, such as the government when their parents’ estates have not been able to be claimed. They also help advocate for children with schools, when the fees cannot be paid, even at times finding better schools for particularly gifted children. The workers in Alice often drive 150KM each way to East London to get ARV medications for children living with HIV. This is the nearest place to Alice in which these medications can be obtained.

Click HERE for a link to a video about Isibindi in Illinge, nearby to Alice. The two women being interviewed are Monica Vega and Heidi Schmidt, two women living under Roman Catholic orders and devoting their time to supporting three of these projects with their time, energy, and communication skills.

It is heartbreaking to see these children and families torn apart by HIV/AIDS, poverty, and violence, but Isibindi is proving a bright light of hope in these communities. In Alice alone, the 13 child care workers serve about 315 children! Including the nearby Illinge and Ezebeleni projects as well, over 1100 orphaned children are being cared for in this area alone. This is a revolutionary project here in South Africa and one need only visit these families and meet the child care workers to see the wonderful potential for healing and growth that lies within the hearts and minds of the people of South Africa.

Peace to all,

-Gates

P.S. I apologize for the lack of photographs of the Isibindi project. We were asked ahead of time to leave our cameras in our bags and immerse ourselves fully in the experience.

P.P.S. Some other links on the Isibindi projects:
A Blog on one person's trip to visit Isibindi in Illinge
The National Association of Child Care Workers in South Africa
The Anglican Diocese of Grahamstown
The home page of the Isibindi Model at the NACCW