This Family Will Have a New Life by Christmas Time

Ena* is ten years old but her little body defies her age. She is lying face down in the hot Namib sand, struggling to turn herself upright. Ena is disabled and the only one to help her at home is her three-year-old brother, Tau*.

He comes over and ties the pink belt from a long-forgotten bathrobe around him and his sister. They are tethered to each other. Like most days their mother has gone out to try and find a little work or at least a little food.

The SOS family strengthening team in Ondangwa, northern Namibia, arrives unannounced to find the two vulnerable children outside their corrugated iron shack; a plastic bottle of homemade drink the only nourishment to find. It is just after 10am and already 33 degrees in the October sun.

Helena Nangombe, Family Strengthening Program (FSP) coordinator, sits down in the sand to talk to the children and to comfort them. Her colleague, David Kambonde, carries food stuffs from the car and places them in a spot of dappled shade.

They have come to inform Victoria* (28), the children’s mother, that the family has been registered as participants in the SOS program, but now she is not home.

“We have told Victoria that she cannot leave the children alone at home during the day. She is endangering their lives and that is abuse. Look at the sharp edges of the shack; paraffin and matches; the open stove.

She knows that she can lose her children if the authorities find them like this. She cried then and said she had no other option but to leave them trying to find some food. She said she would die if the authorities took her children,” says Helena.

Helena and David talk quietly without alerting the children that something is wrong. They have an obligation to inform the authorities but they also have an obligation to try and keep this suffering family together and to provide the tools so that Victoria can better take care of the children. Their strong relationship with the relevant government department in town is crucial now.

Victoria suffers from high blood pressure and is diabetic. She is not schooled and mostly finds work as a labourer. She has no husband and the children’s fathers do not contribute to their care.

“This combination of poor health and hard labour puts her at risk and therefore the children are at risk,” explains Helena.

Apart from Ena and Tau, Victoria also has an eleven-year-old son who is in school. Helena says the boy runs home from school every day to come and take care of Ena and Tau. He cannot go and play with friends like other children his age. He is the adult.

Living in appalling conditions under threat of eviction

The shack is two-roomed with very little inside. The three metal-frame beds have threadbare pieces of fabric covering thin pieces of foam mattresses. Some clothes have fallen from a hessian sack. The floor is bare.

Victoria does not own the shack or the plot it is erected on. The family can be evicted at a moment’s notice and this worries Helena as they would have absolutely nowhere to go were that to happen.

As Victoria’s only real income is the N$250 (US$18) per month she receives from a government grant for Ena, the family qualifies to join the SOS program. In the program the children will receive school clothes, clever little Tau would be able to go to the SOS Kindergarten in Ondangwa and the team can try and get the lovely Ena to go to the nearest school for children with disabilities – almost an hour’s drive away.

Helena has some influence with authorities based on her position and she will be able to advocate for N$250 per child, which would increase the household income to N$750.

“We often find that disabled children here in the Uupopo township are severely discriminated against, but Ena is loved. Victoria has so much affection for Ena and the oldest boy dotes on her. If you see how this family sleeps, it will break your heart. The situation is so sad. The team and I did not have to discuss the case too much as it is obvious that we have to help. We cannot ignore this one,” says Helena.

David calls a neighbour to come and stay with the children. She agrees and takes the foodstuffs into the shack, away from prying eyes. They will inform the government social worker for the area and together they will devise a plan to keep the family together whilst strengthening their capabilities.

“These children will have a different life by Christmas time,” says Helena assuredly.

Donate now and support the Family Strengthening Program in Ondangwa, Namibia.

* Names have been changed to protect individuals privacy