Impact

BEAUTIFUL SUPPORT FOR BEAUTIFUL MOTHERS

by Tim Hans. Nosisi Nonimba and her daughter Anda.

Giggles are little victories. For the moments when they bubble up and fill the air with glee, there is love, peace and joy. For the mothers and children of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, giggles are a sign that their profoundly challenged lives are getting better.

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The Ubuntu Education Fund has worked for over 15 years to help the children of Port Elizabeth overcome devastating poverty, disease, abuse, and orphanage. The organization has moved giant mountains to raise up this community, bringing health, well-being, education, and, yes, a whole lot more giggles, with innovative programs and a whole lot of heart.

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In addition to pregnancy workshops, a ground-breaking nutrition clinic, with a wonderful preschool, UEF has three highly successful programs that focus on mothers: Ubuntu Pathways, Childcare Committee, and Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission.

UBUNTU PATHWAYS

The mothers of Port Elizabeth have a lot to manage, to say the least. And yet, because of the lack of resources in their community, they are poorly equipped. Ubuntu Pathways is an intensive job skills training and placement program which helps mothers gain the financial and emotional strengths they need to provide stable healthy homes for their children and themselves.

Together with local strategic partners, Ubuntu provides the mothers with everything from computer skills and resume writing classes, life-coaching, job placement, and job training.

Nosisi Nonimba is a graduate of Ubuntu Pathways. Thanks to an intensive UP career readiness course, Nosisi and her daughter Anda, a budding ballerina, have a happier, healthier life. Nosisi learned job skills, gained confidence, and was connected with a network of potential employers.

Anda is a talented dancer and a star pupil in Positive Start, Ubuntu’s worldclass preschool program. Mother and daughter are both busy making their dreams come true. Read more about Anda in our post Head in the Clouds, Feet on the Ground and check out the compelling question that drives Ubuntu’s quest.

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CHILDCARE COMMITTEE

Due largely to the ravages of AIDS, many kids here live in child-headed households. Imagine an 11-year old having to act as mother and father to take care of her younger siblings (as well as herself). It’s not hard to understand how children living with these circumstances suffer heartbreaking consequences.

UEF’s Childcare Committee program pairs women volunteer living in the community with child-headed households to help offer support, wisdom, and as many giggles as possible. They alleviate the stresses, pain, and loneliness these children feel on a daily basis.

These surrogate mothers stop by and check on the the kids on a regular basis to make sure they are healthy, safe, and loved. They are on call 24/7.

Busisiwe Ntshanga (second from left), is a Child Care Committee member. She has a biological child of her own, but she also acts as mother to Noluvuyo Tyali, Ntombebongo Centwa, and Luvuyo Centwa, (from left to right) who live on their own.

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PREVENTION OF MOTHER TO CHILD TRANSMISSION (PMCT)

Mothers with AIDS have a high risk of infecting their children. Ubuntu offers medications, counseling, ultrasounds, pregnancy care packages, and comprehensive support to the mothers, PMCT connects all the pieces of emotional, medical, and material needs.

The program has resulted in a 100% success rate and preventing the transmission of HIV from the mother to child. Every Ubuntu baby has been born healthy! It is astounding!

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Xolelwa Bhikisha participated in Ubuntu’s mothers’ program and breastfeeding classes, and you can see that all her hard work to ensure that Liyema, her happy, healthy baby, has paid off.

Happy Mother’s Day from Ubuntu and BeautifulNow!