Our wellness wagons continue to fulfil a vital role in rural South Africa. Using the wagons, our professional nurse visits schools, early childhood development centres, and community centres in remote areas. The wagons also make home visits to care for people unable to access other forms of healthcare. Unfortunately, due to international aid funding cuts, we are seeing increased need in the community as other charities and centres close. Now more that ever your support for our work is crucial.
Thanks to your help, the wellness wagons have made a huge difference in the last quarter. So far this year, the wellness wagons have provided:
Our health team have been working in partnership with local organisations to promote quality healthcare education and information about common conditions. We are pleased to report that since this push on healthcare education, conditions like severe malnutrition and worms are now more rarely seen by our healthcare team.
Over the last few months, we have been continuing to provide essential services to families. These include:
As well as these ongoing activities, we recently received a visit from a local clinic who came to discuss contraception, give immunisations, provide vitamins/de-worming medication and conduct cervical screenings. This was a very useful service to local women and it was great to see the clinic support our work and collaborate with us to serve the community.
Across this last quarter, our maternal health programme has:
Thandiswa
Thandiswa came to our programme when she was pregnant. At the time she was clearly filled with worry about her pregnancy but the staff didn’t immediately know why. After attending antenatal classes, she began to open up and shared that she had experienced many miscarriages before and was worried it would happen again. Our team walked alongside Thandiswa throughout her pregnancy, offering her counselling sessions and entering her into the First 1000 Days programme. Our support meant that Thandiswa was able to find courage and strength during a fearful time and we are very pleased to say that she has now had a healthy baby boy. Thandiswa is so grateful to everyone who walked with her in her pregnancy journey.
Rethabile
Rethabile is a young mother of two children. Our staff met Rethabile at the clinic and invited her to join in with our programmes. As they got to know her, they noticed that Rethabile had some trouble hearing and speaking. After talking to her, they helped her to apply for a disability grant. She also shared with them a deeply personal story of her experience of abuse. Ethembeni helped Rethabile to access counselling to help her process her experiences, and she now says she feels well supported and not alone.
Starfish works with crèches to foster quality early childhood education and development. Studies have shown that the early years of a child’s life are imperative to their development and ability to succeed in adulthood, which is why our centres work to give children the best start in life so that they can thrive when they leave our care.
Our early childhood development centres and community partners are able to work with our social welfare team. This means they can help if a child lacks official documents needed to access education, or step in if there are more serious welfare concerns.
Nkosana is an 8-year-old boy who was only two weeks old when he was found abandonded in a local town. Fortunately, social workers found him and brought him to a foster carer, who has raised him ever since. Over time, Nkosana’s challenges continued. There were delays in applying for a childcare grant because he had no birth certificate. Then, doctors discovered he had a disability which affects his movement. With a diagnosis, doctors were able to write a letter supporting a disability grant application, which has now been accepted. This support comes just at the right time.
As our centre opens its first disability clinic, Nkosana is able to get the support he needs. Now, his future is bright because of the people who came together to help.
One of our early childhood development (ECD) centres have kindly shared with us what the children have been learning in this last quarter.
January - the focus this month was on learning to introduce yourself. The children practised this new skill by stating their names, age, gender, and the name of their school and teacher.
February - this month, the children learned about syllables. They learnt how to count how many syllables there were in certain words and played a clapping game to help them.
March - the main focus this month was on identifying the first letters of certain words. The children tried out their new learning by finding the letters and sounds that make up the start of their names.
New learner: Mbali
Mbali is a 4-year-old girl who joined our ECD for the first time this year. Having lived with her grandmother in a deep rural area, Mbali was unfamiliar with many aspects of the school environment. A particular challenge for her was flushing toilets, which she had not come across before and found frightening. As a result, she avoided them and often had accidents.
However, through gradual exposure and encouragement, Mbali has adapted to the environment well. She is now comfortable using the school toilets and has learnt a lot, showing great progress in her development.
Our ECDs continue to cultivate their food gardens, which help children to learn about where food comes from and gives the ECDs a sustainable food source.
Starfish’s cookbook full of nutritious recipes is still being used by our partners.
Since the inclusion of our nutrition programme, one ECD says this:
"The programme has led to significant improvements in children's health, concentration, and energy levels... Overall, the Starfish Greathearts Foundation's Nutrition Programme has been transformative."
Our community centre continues to provide extensive support to people in the local area. This last quarter, we have continued to run our ECD and provide support to six outlying crèches. Young boys are still benefiting from the Good Guys Club and many children and vulnerable people are attending the art programme. Our healthcare and home visits are continuing too, with medical supplies and food parcels distributed where they are needed most.
We are excited to announce that we held our first disability clinic at our centre in January! With the help of a visiting occupational therapist, the clinic has now been running for three months and has provided families with important help including referral information, transport support and a warm meal while they waited.
There is a growing excitement among the community as this kind of service has never been offered in the area before. For the first time, families feel supported, seen, and hopeful as the clinic brings care closer to home and makes a real difference in the lives of children with disabilities.
This quarter, young people in our art programme have been busy learning to create macramé pieces, unique vases, and artwork experimenting with textures and colours. The art programme has also served the disabled community this quarter as we held our first art therapy session for children with disabilities. This session was well attended by children and their families and was a truly joyful, creative, hands-on experience.
The Good Guys Club is a place where boys can come together and learn leadership and teamwork skills. The project aims to tackle gender-based violence by educating and empowering young boys in the community. This quarter, the boys in the programme have discussed future career ideas, competed for the leadership badge, and explored their rights and responsibilities in school, at home, and in the programme.
Sifiso is 14 and has become a key figure in the Good Guys Club since he joined in 2022. His achievements inspired him and his friends to take on a 10km race - all three boys participated together and as a result of their efforts and teamwork they all won! Everyone at Starfish is proud of their achievement and continues to see Sifiso as an inspiring member of the Good Guys Club.
In this last quarter, the Good Guys Club have been exploring the game of chess. Introducing chess to the boys in the programme has been a great learning experience. The facilitators have noticed that chess helps the boys to think more deeply, make sensible choices, and manage their time well - both in the game and in their lives. The boys have learnt the basic rules of the game and how to play fairly. They are becoming more focused and confident when they play. Some even show the possibility of becoming great chess players in the future who can represent the community when they play. In the Good Guys Club, chess has truly become a tool for growth, discipline, and positive change in the boys’ lives.
Unfortunately, many of the young children Starfish cares for become ill from a lack of clean water. The issue arises from heavy rains, which destroy mud houses and contaminate streams. With damaged homes, it becomes even harder for families to protect their children’s health and keep them safe. Our community partners are teaching families how to purify water, but sometimes these simple methods are not enough to make the water safe to drink. We urgently need to help provide families with access to clean and safe drinking water, so please do consider continuing to support this basic and unmet need.
Thank you to all our donors who have made change possible this quarter. We couldn’t do it without you.
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