A glimpse of life at
Emyezweni - Athenkosi's
story:
Athenkosi came to us at the age of six through our
contact with Helderberg Christian Church. His uncle and
elderly grandmother had been caring for him and his
older brother since their parents died. Money was tight
as his uncle couldn’t find work, and both boys were sick
with tuberculosis.
We found a place for Athenkosi’s brother at a local
primary school and gave Athenkosi a free place at
Emyezweni School. We found suitable clothing for
both boys from our clothing bank, and the church began
to provide food parcels for the family.
When he first joined the school, Athenkosi was
withdrawn and displayed serious behavioural problems.
He didn’t want to be away from his brother and we
found it difficult to keep him in the classroom – he was
particularly good at escaping when he was on his way to
the toilet! Gradually, though, he began to settle into the
class, we began grief and bereavement sessions with
him and tried to encourage other children to make
friends and include him in their play.
After two weeks at pre-school Athenkosi began to relax
and join in activities and play sessions. He still struggled
with whole class sessions, though, finding the challenge
of sitting on the carpet without individual adult attention
quite hard. We persisted with praise and encouragement
and I discovered his favourite reward was when he was
allowed to sit on my lap and play with my hair!
We helped Athenkosi’s grandmother to fill in social
service forms and took her to the local office so she
could obtain a grant for the two children, which resulted
in both boys having identity documents and access to
medical help. When his uncle found temporary work we
saw an immediate improvement in his clothing and
general health, which had a positive impact on his ability
to concentrate in school. Soon he was making good
progress with formal writing and various other learning
activities.
Update 2011
Athenkosi is still at the school; he has been identified
as having some educational special needs due to his
early childhood experiences (and as a result works in a
grade class lower than his chronological age) but he is
making good progress and is socially and emotionally
well developed. He enjoys spending time with his peers
and is much more relaxed around adults and strangers.
We have very good relationship with Athenkosi’s
grandmother with whom he stays and she often comes
to school to ask us for help filling in forms and other
paperwork. I think she appreciates just being able to
talk about her problems over a cup of tea and she
enjoys being shown Athenkosi’s work and discovering
the progress he is making.
We have discovered that he has a real affinity for
growing things; last year he was involved with working
in the church vegetable garden and we are hoping to
incorporate more horticulture into his curriculum this
year. We hope to keep Athenkosi at Emyezweni
School until he is old enough to go to a practical skills
based secondary school and help him to get started on
an apprenticeship at the local Helderberg Nature
Reserve or something similar.
At age 10, he is a delightful (not so little !) boy and
although we do worry about his future we are so
grateful to be in a position to put some things in place
that will help him as he grows and develops.
- As told by Deb Gregory, previous headteacher at
Emyezweni School-
Success Stories
© Ukuthasa 2007 | Charity Registration Number: 1055539
Emyezweni Influence
Ukuthasa supports
Emyezweni School that
not only supports the
education of the children of
Lwandle, but also has a
positive influence in the
community.
How you can help
If you would like to make
a difference in the lives of
the people we support,
contact us. No matter how
small the amount, every
donation makes a positive
impact.