Umtha Welanga

A government grant recently ran out, so UW is out of funds—the workers haven't been paid since March. As such, work is moving slowly. I did a home visits today. With a social worker (Siv) and two long-term employees of Umtha Welanga (Nqo and Lolita), I walked through Khayelitsha and stopped in about seven homes. The first was disgusting. We walked into a dark, dank, run-down concrete house that was filled with empty 40s and unconnected wires. An old man appeared from the bathroom after a couple of minutes and proceeded to talk in Xhosa. I guess his wife had recently died, and he was left alone with two foster children. The old man looked arthritic and had a lot of trouble walking, even though the house was tiny. The second home we visited couldn't have been more different. It was made of bricks, had nice patio furniture out front, and the inside was filled with grandmotherly furniture. The other homes varied in between these two. The stories of the residents were both depressing and uplifting. In the middle of the day we saw a three-year-old running around the side yard of a house. His grandmother was around back doing laundry. The little guy smiled and giggled when he noticed we were walking toward him. Siv, Lolita and Nqo talked to the grandmother for a couple minutes, and then they translated to me. The three-year-old's mother had been sick—she has HIV—but then she disappeared after leaving him with her boyfriend's mother (who I've been calling his grandmother). That's the depressing part. No one knows where the mother is or if she's okay. But her son appears to be in good hands, he looks happy, and Umtha Welanga as well as other organizations are there to provide support when needed.

After lunch I interviewed a woman who would like to adopt her niece. I listened to her story and helped her fill out the application to foster a related child. Normally, Umtha Welanga interviews people everyday and offers training monthly on how to successfully foster. With the funding problems, UW hasn't been able to do the training programs or advertise much. I have no idea what I'll be doing tomorrow. Hopefully more home visits. It is so interesting to see how people live.

I just bought a Xhosa dictionary, and by the end of my stay here, I should be able to speak just enough to talk during the visits. So far I know:
-molo (mow-low), which is hello
-molweni (mole-wen-ee), which is hello to multiple people
-unjani (oon-jahn-ee), which is how are you
-ndiphilile (uhn-dee-pee-lee-lay), which is I'm fine
-and a few other random words

written by  Whitney on June 14, 2011 from Khayelitsha, South Africa
from the travel blog: South Africa
tagged UmthaWelanga and Khayelitsha
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