It
is common that when life becomes tough, people tend to focus
on their own survival. But for Raphael Mngometulu it is the
time to demonstrate the spirit of humanity. His desire and dedication
to save the lives of orphaned children became a reality with
the establishment of a childcare center in Sihhoye, Northern
Hhohho, in Swaziland.
The year 2004 was a bad year for Swaziland where thousands of
people were hit by food insecurity due to erratic rains. As
people were busy running around looking for food, Raphael realized
that many people in his area were dying leaving children without
anyone to care for them. It was indeed a huge challenge for
orphans to survive.
“When I visited some of my neighbors, I found some were
sick and had no food at all. When some of them died, their children
were left alone with no one to look after them.” says
Raphael.
The childcare center was established in 2004. Raphael’s
wife would prepare thin porridge for sick people and orphans
on a daily basis using their own resources.
“We started with fifteen orphans but the centre now has
110 children, 67 of whom do not go to school due to the lack
of money to pay for school fees. However, we established an
informal school for the children to have access to basic education,”
he adds. The government of Swaziland is paying school fees for
the other 43 children.
Although the children get informal education, the quality is
not the same as in normal schools. A Swaziland Red Cross volunteer
offers his teaching services to the centre just to make sure
that the children can read and write but they do not have access
to the recommended books and syllabus.
The recent food crisis in Swaziland was another problem for
Raphael as he did not have any food for the children. The centre
received food and maize seed through a Food Insecurity project
which was funded by the International Federation of Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies. Although the project ended in April
2006, Raphael is sure that they will have enough food from their
field, thanks to the Red Cross project that gave a ray of hope
to these orphaned children.
“We are happy to see these children benefiting from such
initiatives. The maize harvested will go a long way in assisting
the children with food as it had become scarce,” says
Raphael.
With the assistance of the Neighborhood Care Point (NCP) committee,
the children planted the maize seed and they started harvesting
their maize.
“I am pleased for the help that we got from the Red Cross
during this difficult time, but I want to appeal to the international
community to compliment the Red Cross efforts so that these
children have access to reasonable education, clothing and food,”
says Raphael, adding that some of the children out of the centre
still need continuous food supplies while the authorities are
looking for longer term solutions.
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Raphael
Mngometulu talking to Swaziland Red Cross society officers.
(p14289)
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