Cause Index

Sizwe Hlekiso

The organisation was named Rural Vision but Rural Vision was not a registered organisation then in January 2012 the organisation was registered Non-Profit Organisation and registered with the Name Mother Soul Youth Development indaba. The organisation was named Mother Soul because: mothers are always concerned about the wellbeing and the future of their children, and Youth Development indaba refers to recruiting young people to be part of the organisation so that they can help in developing the area and reduce crime rate and eradicate poverty.
Mother Soul is situated in Ilinge, where a profile of the area was conducted prior the projects and the findings were that the rate of HIV/AIDS, Substance abuse and teenage pregnancy, escalating problems, absenteeism from school, academic failure, poor household environment, family violence and abuse, house breaking were very high in this area. HIV/AIDS has left too many Orphans with old age people who do not have money to provide them with everything they need; hence the organisation was established to come up with some interventions to the above mentioned problems.
The organisation renders services such as Home Based Care, Orphans and Vulnerable Children, HIV/AIDS, Substance abuse awareness, prevention and gender based violence. The motive behind rendering these services was that they are linked to one another, i.e. young people get involved in unprotected sex because of them being under the influence of drugs or alcohol, as a result they end up being infected by HIV/AIDS and they die due to the disease and leave their children with their parents who are chronically ill, and cannot afford to provide for the whole family as they are relying on social grants.
Here are some of the demographical factors that have contributed escalating rates of mortality due to TB and HIV/AIDS:
 Poverty and unemployment: The area is rural with high level of poverty and unemployment, and families are entirely dependent on the Social Grants for their income.
 The majority of the population in this area is illiterate elderly people and young people with the little formal education.
 The death rate is high, especially on young people which is associated with HIV/AIDS and as a result there is a high number of Orphans and Vulnerable Children who needs support.
The challenges of poverty and unemployment still remain a challenge. The majority of people leave their homes to look for employment in the cities. They come back home very ill and some survive only for a few months then pass on. People who are infected by HIV/AIDS experience neglect and some of them are forsaken or chased away by their families then they end up living alone with no one to take care of them. Orphans and vulnerable children between ages of 4 and 15 years have been left by their parents (deceased/unknown) leaving them exposed to physical and sexual abuse. Psychological support is therefore needed to respond to the needs of abused Orphans and Vulnerable Children.
The majorities of Orphans and Vulnerable Children who stay with their grandparents or other relatives do not have legal documents and still find it difficult to obtain the documents if they have no access to their late parents’ legal documents. The process is long and straining one which leads to some of the people giving up any hope they had of obtaining their legal documents.
Many Orphans and Vulnerable Children drop out of school because of lack of finance as they depend on Social grants. Their poor families are unable to afford some or all the school necessities i.e. school uniforms and stationery. They are unable to muster their school work, they are constantly thinking of ways to improve their situation and they often compare themselves to other children who come from well off families.
People are not educated well enough about opportunistic infections therefore they wait longer periods before they can go to the clinic and get help which puts their families at risk of infection. The elderly people get infected with HIV after taking care of their loved ones due to insufficient on HIV related issues and people who are poor are more likely to default treatment than those who are less poor.
Mother Soul aims to assist 360 Orphans and Vulnerable Children from 0-18 years with services including child protection intervention, general healthcare referral, household economic strengthening, educational support, HIV prevention education and awareness and psycho-social care. This number consist of old and new Orphans and Vulnerable Children. Child protection intervention will ensure the safety and wellbeing of Orphans and Vulnerable Children. Many Orphans and Vulnerable Children in this area are being abused by close family members which leaves them more vulnerable. Mother Soul aims to provide after school activities which will assist the Orphans and Vulnerable Children with school work, life skills education and recreational activities. Increased levels of poverty will be improved through income generating activities.
Mother Soul aims to assist 500 people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS with Services including; Clinical/medical care, psychological care, Social Care, nutritional counseling and support, Spiritual Care, and integrated prevention services. This number consist of old and new Clients. The program will ensure that clients receive the required clinical care which will positively impact on their physical wellbeing. As mentioned earlier, some of the people infected by HIV are neglected and forsaken by their families and some walk long distances to the clinic. Mother Soul Home Based Carers will conduct household visits in order to assess the condition of the clients and refer them to the Clinic if the is a need. The clients will also be provided with counseling and education on nutrition and treatment, clients with malnutrition symptoms will be assessed, counseled, and referred for the health facility for further assessment. The care givers will also provide ongoing counseling and support to the clients.
Mother Soul works through 10 care givers that number is not enough as we are servicing a very big community. We have Home Based Care Co-ordinator and Orphans and Vulnerable Children Co-ordinator and 5 peer educators they do school visits and HIV/AIDS awareness.
All the cases are referred to the coordinators who will facilitate the intervention plan to each case. Peer Educators will also monitor school attendance including performance of all Orphans and Vulnerable Children. They will also facilitate group discussion with Orphans and Vulnerable Children with home works. Home based Carers also accompany Orphans and Vulnerable Children to Home Affairs and to other relevant institutions.

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