Children in Distress follows a holistic approach in taking care of the children we support and empower in greater White River, Mpumalanga, South Africa
Aside from taking care of the basic physical needs of the children, we prioritise their emotional health and well-being.
Emotional support
Our trained support staff provide emotional support – a friend in need – for our children and their caregivers in case of:
- HIV/Aids
- Trauma – rape and abuse
- Death
- Abandonment
- Substance abuse
- Pregnancy
It is our hope that we will soon have full-time social workers on staff who are able to direct the work we do.
Child-headed homes
Most child-headed homes see teenage children looking after their brothers and sisters. It is our goal to support such homes by providing RDP housing, school uniforms and training and equipping to enable the household to run effectively.
Caregiver Classes
In our experience, is that it best for the children to stay in their communities with caregivers.Due to the poverty of the foster families, they are often happy to accept orphans who have an assured source of food. Many of our foster parents are elderly people with no pension or visible means of support, apart from what they can scratch together through the sale of handcrafts.
Our Caregiver Classes aim to empower the caregivers to generate a small income and develop small businesses. We conduct special teaching and training classes, visit caregivers in their homes from time-to-time and give one-on-one counselling where necessary.
E-Pap
For children and caregivers who are malnourished or HIV positive, we provide an e-Pap meal. E-Pap is a pre-cooked, fortified food that delivers 28 nutrients in a form that the body can absorb.