Children wash at a U.S.-sponsored program in Soweto. In addition to teaching hygiene, mentors help with homework and lead activities.

21 October 2008

(Mentors in a U.S.-sponsored program provide personal guidance to each child)

Soweto, South Africa — Around 2 p.m., a dusty compound in the sprawling, impoverished black ghetto of Soweto is filled with the shouts of children arriving from school for a nutritious meal, homework tutoring, exercise and a chance to build a decent life.

“I like to come here because I get a chance [to] learn,” said 13-year-old Zama, one of 300 children who were selected for the Ambassador’s Girls’ Scholarship Program (AGSP) funded by the U.S. government.  All the children, 150 girls and 150 boys, have been orphaned or infected by HIV/AIDS.  They faced bleak and, in some cases, short futures before they were brought into the program, which is run by the Humana People to People charity.

“I teach Zama to stand on her own,” said Thoko, who is HIV positive and one of 45 AGSP mentors in Doornkop, a South African township west of Johannesburg.  “Zama is a little heroine.  She has survived three cases of meningitis, and she continues to live with hope.  I have taught her that there is life after being diagnosed HIV positive.”

The scholarship program was launched in 2005 with funding from the President’s Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the multibillion-dollar U.S. initiative to combat the disease around the world.  Initially, the scholarships were limited to girls.

“The original aim was to encourage girls to stay in school,” said Mathata Madibane, an education adviser for the U.S. Agency for International Development.  “When a problem arises at home, the girls are the first to suffer.  They have to stay at home and look after sick siblings or sick parents.  This year, we opened the program to boys because we realized that HIV/AIDS does not distinguish between boys and girls.  You cannot treat girls and neglect boys.”  (The name of the scholarship has not yet been amended to reflect the change.)

The children range in age between 7 and 16.  Thoko mentors five children whom she reminds daily about taking medication.  On Mondays, she makes it a point to find out how they passed the weekend in their neighborhoods where rape, alcoholism and violence are common.

“Many children have been traumatized,” said Alina, another mentor, who is HIV positive.  “The children need to know they are safe and loved here.”  Alina, who speaks in a soft voice and looks at people with kind eyes, has been trained to help people overcome trauma.  Thoko credits Alina with saving her after she was diagnosed with HIV.  

“I wanted to die.  I was pregnant.  My family left me.  Alina said, ‘Thoko, come to me.  I am here.  If you want to live, you must learn to love yourself.’  You see me today.  I am strong, and I can help others.  It is because of Alina.  She taught me love, support and acceptance.  I teach that to others now,” Thoko said.

After the weekend events have been addressed, Thoko spends Tuesdays helping the children she mentors with homework.  Zama gets particular help with math, because the girl finds it difficult.  Wednesdays are devoted to sports, music and game playing.  Thursdays are for library visits.

“I teach the children to take care of books, not to tear them and to put them back in the right places, and I teach them to be silent in the library,” Thoko said.  The library on the compound is a corrugated metal hut, roughly the size of a shipping container, with shelves holding aged Reader’s Digest books, encyclopedias with brittle, yellowing pages, and paperback novels that were on the bestseller lists in the United States a decade or more ago.

Fridays are for uniform washing and personal hygiene.  The children wash their school clothes in basins and iron them.  The compound does not have showers or bathtubs for the children.  They learn to clean themselves from buckets and are expected to do so at home.

In addition to the Monday through Friday routine, the children are introduced to community youth clubs, where they play sports and participate in drama and music with other children.  Mentors take the children on field trips and visit them at their homes, which often are headed by teenage siblings or grandmothers.

The amount of each scholarship is roughly $100 per child, per year.  The money goes mainly for school supplies, fees, books and transportation.  “A little money can do a lot,” said Tonia Weik, a diplomat assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria.

“More important than the money is the mentoring provided by people who understand the distress that the children are in,” said Humana’s Lone Torbenson.  “This is a safe haven for them to grow and focus on education.”  She added that the children generally perform well academically and many return after their schooling to mentor younger children.