Whatever It Takes

The Blue Roof Clinic is one of five sites that Keep a Child Alive funds in South Africa. Three of these sites – Agape, Bobbi Bear, and the Blue Roof - are located in and around Durban. The other two – Ikageng Itireng AIDS Ministry and Boikarabelo – are located near Johannesburg. The beauty of having three sites in close proximity to each other is that we can support each other’s work more readily. The Agape Child Care Center is home to nearly 50 children from ages 1 to 17, offering hope and promise to a generation orphaned by AIDS. Operation Bobbi Bear focuses on the rescue and rehabilitation of children who are victims of sexual abuse or rape. If any of these children at Agape or Bobbi Bear test positive for HIV, they can come to the Blue Roof for treatment. If the Blue Roof or Agape encounters a child who has been victim to rape, they can reach out to Bobbi Bear for support. And if Bobbi Bear or the Blue Roof discover a child that needs a home, they can contact Agape for help. Together, the three sites are addressing the many facets of the AIDS crisis that make it so difficult to overcome.

On Wednesday, Rhona and I went to visit the Tree at Bobbi Bear. Jackie Branfield and Eureka Olivier are the superwomen who direct Operation Bobbi Bear, and every Wednesday, they hold the Tree as a place for all the women in the area to come from near and far for inspiration, encouragement and empowerment. During our time there, Rhona and I talked to Jackie and Eureka about Bobbi Bear’s more urgent needs for funding. My work at the Blue Roof and my recent interactions with the amazing Bobbi Bear staff and volunteers has shown me just how complex the needs for funding are in this line of work. From staff salaries to training more community safety and child safety officers, to new pillows, clean linen and mattresses for the children, to a constant new supply of food and clothing for the children, to doctor payments in private hospitals so the children are seen as quickly as possible, the costs to keep Bobbi Bear up and running are only going to grow more as its life-saving services continue to expand.

The Tree

The Bobbi Bear team works all day from 8am-4pm, and when they get home from work, there are people literally lined up at their doors to see them. It is a 24/7 job. And when you are working with children who have been sexually assaulted, the job is a fragile one. Bobbi Bear has to pay for someone to do all their laundry, especially the linen and duvets, because many of these children are prone to wet the bed. Therefore, Bobbi Bear is also in constant need of new mattresses. Many of the children want to take their pillows with them when they leave, as well as the clean clothes they are given to wear, so there is always a need for more pillows and clothes for the children! And even after the children leave Bobbi Bear for their foster homes, the Bobbi Bear team checks in with all of them to make sure they are safe, healthy and happy. Bobbi Bear’s “Rough Aunties” are true heroes in the lives of thousands of children and families in South Africa, and I am going to work with Keep a Child Alive to ensure that Bobbi Bear has everything it needs to continue its amazing work. Email me at noelle@keepachildalive.org if you are interested in helping KCA support Bobbi Bear.

On Thursday, I spent the morning with the Bobbi Bear team at a local primary school. We spent an hour there, and Auntie Tandega spoke to the kids about HIV and rape on the most basic level. The children in the crowd were between from 3-5 years old, so the content of the Edu-toy program was focused on talking to the children about “good things” versus “bad things” and that when someone does something bad to you, you tell the teacher or your parents. The talk also taught the kids about all the liquids that come from your body – pee, blood, sweat, spit – and that “if it’s wet, and it comes from your body, do not touch it.” The idea behind this routine is that if a child is being sexually abused, they will be able to recognize it as a “bad thing,” to “not touch,” and to tell an adult they trust. They were also introduced to HIV as simply a virus that your body cannot recognize, so it makes you very sick because your antibodies cannot fight it off. These kinds of educational programs should be incorporated in schools every where, because it is so important for children to gain the skills and knowledge at a young age, especially in South Africa, where there is such a high instance of reported child rape.

On Friday morning, Rhona dropped me off at work because she was going to a day-long meeting at the Dept. of Health – there was a whole hour dedicated to discussing Keep a Child Alive, which is very exciting! As I walked into the clinic, I saw three white girls around my age walking out with a black baby boy. I could tell he was very sick, and something seemed up, so I went and asked the staff what his situation was. Apparently the girls had brought him in for a CD4 count, and even though the nurses generally do not do bloods and CD4 tests on Fridays, we figured out a way to help the sick little boy that day, because the Blue Roof does not turn any one away, ever. The girls were so grateful that we could test his CD4 count on Friday! Now they just have to come back next week for his results. What’s tragic is that he is actually six years old – but he has been sick his whole life without proper treatment and care, and therefore looks half his age. Even though we won’t have his results until next week, I am glad we were able to put his caretakers’ minds at ease for the weekend, knowing that the Blue Roof is doing everything we can to find out how sick this little boy is, and how we can help him.

"We may run, walk, stumble, drive or fly, but let us never lose sight of the reason for the journey, or miss a chance to see a rainbow on the way."