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Jigsaw4u International readies itself to launch in South Africa
Published on March 10, 2009
Jigsaw4u International is getting ready to launch in South Africa and in many respects it’s a daunting challenge. There are so many children that could potentially benefit from the kind of support that Jigsaw4u has to offer!
To put things in perspective, between 1995 and 2005 the percentage of children in South Africa who were maternal orphans doubled and the percentage of children who had lost both their parents tripled. This is an ongoing trend, exacerbated by the HIV/Aids epidemic that typically affects both partners of people of childbearing age.
Studies show that in South Africa Aids orphans in particular experience double the normal rate of depression, five times the normal rate of post traumatic stress and seven times the normal rate of peer problems. In addition these orphans tend to be malnourished and a mothers death tends to significantly affect a child’s educational outcomes while a fathers death tends to have a major effect on the child’s socio economic status. All this in a country where getting an education and escaping poverty are challenges for even the average child.
In terms of Children suffering trauma through abuse, this too is pervasive. Sexual abuse occurs across cultures and socio economic backgrounds but aggravating factors include the high levels of poverty, the acceptance of violence in society, and unequal gender relations. Worryingly the average age of child victims is decreasing. Like any where in the world, perpetrators tend to be known to the child however there are large numbers of children living on the street or who are orphaned and these children are particularly vulnerable. It is emerging that many perpetrators are children or adolescents themselves. What has become clear is that abused children need to have more opportunities to articulate their concerns instead of internalizing abusive and violent attitudes. The good news is, is that there are so many ways to make a difference, at so many levels, and Jigsaw4u’s approach means that we can work at a grass roots level making sure that we help children and the people who work with them directly, as well as interact on a strategic level, with other NGO’s who do similar work. Currently Jigsaw4u South Africa is laying the ground work for an ongoing programme that uses our own tried and trusted methods of intervention. In addition we are enhancing our approach so that it is culturally appropriate.
I so passionately believe that each and every one of these vulnerable children deserves the opportunities that any other child would have and I’m delighted that I have the opportunity to be part of a team making this happen. We now have the chance to help children in South Africa that are grieving or traumatized to cope with their circumstances and grow into the exceptional individuals they deserve to be.
Lauren Spandenberg (Project Director)
