UNITE FOR CHILDREN UNITE AGAINST AIDS

October 1, 2008

4 children abandoned by their HIV-positive mother

UNICEF Swaziland is currently supporting a community-based system of monitoring and reporting in four ‘Fit for Children’ constituencies, especially pertaining to the impact of drought and HIV on children.

This community-based monitoring system relies on key informants such as chiefs, teachers, rural health motivators and community youth volunteers who collect data on food, water, health, education, protection and participation.

I am responsible for conducting meetings with these partners on the third week of each month to discuss data and make plans to follow up on issues brought up. It was during one of these meetings that I heard the sad case of four children aged between 5 and 11. This is the story of Thula, Sipho and their twin siblings Siphosethu and Sekwenele.

Neglected by their mother

Njabulo Dlamini, a UNICEF-trained child protector, reported the case of the four children who live alone in a small hut. They were abandoned six months ago by their mother who now lives with another man about 80 kilometers away. The eldest is the only one going to school.
 
Thula, 11, says they haven’t seen their mother since she left. The young boy told us that all of them were born of different fathers who have all since died and hence they have nowhere to go. Says Thula “I have to see to it that my siblings have food and I rely on food from the neighbours. When my neighbours do not have enough to share, we go to bed on an empty stomach and have to bear the cries of my siblings as they cannot come to terms with the hunger. I sometimes have to go and ask for food from the community child protector before I go to school to ensure that we have eaten something”.
 
Matter Reported to community leadership

Njabulo reported the matter to the community leadership who took the children back to their grandmother on the mother’s side and asked her to look after them. The grandmother welcomed the children and told the community leadership that her daughter is HIV-positive and that she suspects the fathers of her grand-children might have died from AIDS.  Currently, the community leadership is trying to open dialogue with the mother; they are hoping she will take care of them again.

UNICEF Swaziland is trying to boost community leadership on children’s issues because as seen in the four constituencies, amid widespread poverty, communities are trying their best to care for children. Swaziland has 55 constituencies and this program has only covered four. The plan is to scale up to 20 more constituencies to protect children, especially those affected by HIV and AIDS.